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Porsche Taycan showcases track abilities beside high-performance cars in the Nurburgring

[Credit: cvdzijden - Supercar Videos/YouTube]

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Porsche has been very vocal about its aim to ensure that the Taycan, its first all-electric car, would be at home on the racetrack. Porsche’s gasoline-powered cars are famed for their performance and their “soul,” and the company has maintained that the Taycan would be no different.

This means that the upcoming electric four-door sedan would have to be proficient and tuned enough to handle the world’s most challenging racecourses. To accomplish this, Porsche has been taking some of the Taycan’s camouflaged prototypes to one of Germany’s most iconic tracks — the Nurburgring. The intense, twisting 12.93-mile racetrack is famed for its difficulty, resulting in an adage which states that “if a vehicle runs on the Nurburgring, it can run anywhere.”

Just recently, the Porsche Taycan was sighted sharing the famous racetrack with some of Germany’s most iconic high-performance cars, as well as a number of fellow camouflaged prototypes from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, to name a few. A video of the vehicles was posted by YouTube’s cvdzijden – Supercar Videos channel, which shares clips of vehicle testing sessions in the racetrack.

The recent Nurburgring session is part of the Industry Pool, an initiative that involves more than two dozen OEMs, all of which combine financial resources to rent out the racetrack four days a week, 16 weeks a year (usually two weeks/month between April and October). In true Industry Pool fashion, several unreleased vehicles could be seen aggressively tackling the turns of the track, but among all of the cars, the Taycan stands apart due to its stealthy way of hugging turns and then exploding forward with its instant torque.

Porsche’s approach to refining the track capabilities of the Taycan is indicative of its experience in the auto industry. Over the past months, the automaker has been taking its camouflaged Taycan prototypes to the Nurburgring for track sessions. This approach seems to be a little bit different from Tesla and its Track Mode for the Model 3 Performance, which was largely developed in-house and heavily software-based. Tesla CEO Elon Musk dubbed Track Mode as an “Expert User Mode” for the electric car, in the way that it would allow drivers to tweak their vehicles’ settings according to their preferences.

The Porsche Taycan is expected to be marketed as a competitor for the Tesla Model S, but its listed specs are more comparable to the Model 3 Performance. The German automaker states that the Taycan would be able to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds, eventually hitting a top speed of 155 mph. The vehicle is also expected to feature a 310-mile range per charge, and it would be supported by Porsche’s upcoming Charge Parks, a fast-charging network not unlike Tesla’s Superchargers.

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Porsche seems to be the one legacy automaker that is really committed to its electric car push. While companies like Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz have released electric vehicles, neither one has announced a dedicated charging infrastructure for their cars. That said, this is not to say that everything about the Taycan is going well.

The company plans to build the Taycan at its Zuffenhausen facility in Stuttgart, Germany, a location that also manufactures the Porsche 911, 718 Boxster, and the 718 Cayman. Last July, Porsche head of production Albrecht Reimold noted that it is quite difficult to find a location to set up the Taycan’s assembly lines in the facility, especially considering the work that would have to be done to transform the factory and optimize it for the electric car’s production. Ultimately, Porsche aims to build 20,000 Taycans per year when the vehicle enters production, which is expected to begin in 2019.

Watch the Porsche Taycan fit right in with other high-performance cars in the video below.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla Cybercab sightings broaden well outside of Austin with autonomy in focus

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Credit: Tesla Robotaxi | X

Tesla Cybercab sightings are broadening far and wide, well outside of downtown Austin, Texas, with autonomy in focus as the company plans to launch the all-electric, two-seater this evening in the Lone Star State.

Tesla is set to launch Cybercab to a small group of people this evening in a dedicated event in Austin, Texas. Public details on the event are relatively slim.

However, Tesla’s focus on Cybercab falls well outside of the downtown Austin area and is expanding well across the United States as things continue to move quickly with the company’s autonomous efforts in 2026. Today, various images of Cybercab fleets in interesting locations have started to circulate.

The most notable is a fleet of at least 20 Cybercabs at Miami International Airport in Florida. Spotted last night, the fleet is expansive and is indicative of a looming release of Cybercabs once regulatory boxes are checked off.

Tesla has already been operating the Robotaxi platform in Miami for several months, but this Cybercab fleet at the airport could be joining the ride-hailing platform as approvals arrive:

Another fleet of Cybercabs was spotted at the Devon, PA showroom just outside of Philadelphia. We have seen several Cybercab units testing around the Philadelphia Metro Area, which is interesting considering Tesla does not have any active Robotaxi geofence in Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia would be an ideal location to test ride-hailing due to its dense tourist population, large, sprawling city layout, and to compete with other ride-hailing companies that operate in the city.

Expansive fleets of Cybercabs will be popping up in and around major cities throughout the rest of the year, if we were betting on it. Tesla has made it obvious that the Cybercab rollout will be aggressive and fast-paced, but within reason. Tesla is still prioritizing safety, so these testing phases will likely go on for some period of time before more members of the public are able to snag a Cybercab for a personal chariot.

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Tesla Model Y L gets suspension complaints in over odd issue China

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Credit: @TeslaNewswire/X

The Tesla Model Y L is arguably the most hyped trim of the all-electric crossover, other than the Performance configuration that comes with white-knuckle speed and sports car-level handling.

However, it is not all perfect. Tesla owners in China who took delivery of the Model Y L, denoted with an L to highlight its longer wheelbase, are experiencing what they are referring to as “collapsing” of the rear wheels, as suspension issues appear to be an issue with some of the builds.

The gap between the wheel arch and tire has narrowed to the point that “not even a single finger” could fit, according to a report from Car News China. The failures are not tied to a specific mileage, as one owner said that after just 9,000 kilometers (5,600 miles), they noticed the suspension issue when their car was fully loaded.

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Another one had the issue at 30,000 kilometers (18,640 miles) and noticed that the wheel gap shrank to two fingers, so not as drastic as the person who reported a similar issue at 9,000 km.

Tesla Model Y L is gaining momentum in China’s premium segment

Along with the visual recognition of the issue, others are saying the sagging is causing abnormal wear on the inside of the tires. Extra weight and instant torque already provide additional stress on the tires in electric vehicles during normal operation, so it is no surprise that this is another complaint.

There has been no recall issued by Tesla, and the company has not yet publicly acknowledged the issue.

Some are suggesting that owners use a “finger test” to self-diagnose whether there is an issue with the suspension. There should be four fingers between the tire and the wheel well; anything less than that starts to get dicey.

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Tesla Cybercab event gains steam ahead of massive launch

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Credit: TechOperator | X

Tesla is starting to truly tease and hype its groundbreaking Cybercab event, which takes place tomorrow in Austin, Texas. It will be the first time members of the public will be able to ride in a Cybercab, a vehicle without any manual controls, on public roads.

Tesla has been dropping some hype on X over the past several days, but this morning, the excitement has truly started to build up for the event. Although Cybercab has been unveiled before, this is truly Tesla’s announcement that it is ready to start offering autonomous rides for public passengers in its new ride-hailing-geared vehicle for the first time.

The hype has started with a variety of different social media posts that are a true indication that Tesla is preparing for something big. Teasing so much of the potential of Cybercab, including its ability to truly revolutionize how people hail rides for local travel, is what the big idea for the event entails. The time that many Tesla owners, fans, and investors have been waiting for is potentially here:

The event has remained slim on details. Even invitees are still awaiting true details about what the event will entail, where they’ll go, and what is in store for the evening. This is pretty typical for an event run by Tesla; they keep things under wraps for the most part until the very last minute.

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However, there is no secret about what the real intention of Tesla is for this event: it is going to be a huge reveal party for a vehicle that has no steering wheel and no pedals. It is a truly massive step for the company moving forward.

Speculation persists as to whether this is going to be an event that simply announces that rides will begin with the Cybercab, or it will be something more substantial. Tesla has said in the past that they plan to sell the Cybercab to the general public in what could become a great way to earn passive income by adding it to a more global fleet of Robotaxi-geared vehicles.

Tomorrow, the show begins in Austin, and the Cybercab goes live at some capacity; we just don’t know exactly how quite yet.

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