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Amid Porsche Taycan’s success, German automaker CEO looks towards e-fuels
The Porsche Taycan has seen success since its release, and it has become extremely evident this year. In a statement to auto motor und sport, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume stated that orders for the Taycan are slated to exceed the company’s original 20,000-unit goal for 2020. Amidst the Taycan’s momentum, Porsche appears to be looking towards other sustainable solutions that could keep even its internal combustion vehicle business going.
“Despite the closure of dealerships and factories during the first wave of corona, we will surpass our original target of 20,000 vehicles sold this year,” Blume said.
While addressing the German media outlet, Blume remarked that Porsche was only able to sell 4,480 units of the Taycan during the first half of 2020. But by the end of October, Taycan sales rose dramatically to 10,994. Considering Blume’s statement, it appears that Porsche is poised to sell about 10,000 more Taycans in the fourth quarter alone.
Porsche’s electric vehicle program is only bound to get more prominent. The Taycan Cross Turismo, a variant of the Taycan that’s optimized for utility, is expected to be released soon. The all-electric Macan, an EV version of one of the company’s best-selling vehicles, is expected to be released in the near future as well.
Despite the projected success of Porsches electric line of cars, Blume expressed some support for the development of e-fuels. His stance on e-fuels seems to oppose Volkswagen’s, Porsche’s parent company.
“Synthetic fuels are not in competition with electromobility, but complement (EVs) sensibly, especially backwards,” Blume said.
Porsche’s Development Director Michael Steiner shared a similar opinion about e-fuels in a previous press release. Steiner acknowledged that electric vehicles have pushed the auto industry to pursue more sustainable alternatives to fuel. However, he believes e-mobility isn’t changing the auto industry fast enough. The Development Director argued that developing synthetic fuels was important because the combustion engine would still dominate the automotive world for many years.
“Electromobility is an absolutely inspiring and convincing technology. But taken on its own, it is moving us towards sustainability less quickly than we want to. That is why we are also committed to the topic of eFuels – also with regard to possible uses in motorsport,” Steiner said.
While Porsche’s stance on the use of e-fuels is understandable considering its pedigree as a sports car maker, the adoption of alternative fuels as a replacement for fossil fuels presents a lot of challenges. The production of e-fuels is complex as they typically utilize hydrogen, which is obtained by electrolysis. Since hydrogen is generated from water, it requires large amounts of electricity. Some would argue that this electricity could simply be used to power vehicles like the Taycan and the electric Macan directly. E-fuels are unavailable on a large scale as well, and it remains to be seen if an infrastructure would be set up in the near future.
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Tesla Giga Berlin dispute against IG Metall union leads to investigation
As per a report from rbb24, police seized a laptop belonging to an IG Metall member at Tesla Giga Berlin on Tuesday afternoon.
German authorities have opened an investigation into an IG Metall union representative following allegations that a confidential works council meeting at Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin was secretly recorded. The probe follows a criminal complaint filed by Tesla management last week.
As per a report from rbb24, police seized a laptop belonging to an IG Metall member at Tesla Giga Berlin on Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors in Frankfurt (Oder) confirmed that an investigation is underway into a possible unauthorized audio recording of an internal works council meeting.
Under German law, recording a non-public meeting without consent may constitute a criminal offense.
Tesla stated that Gigafactory Berlin employees alerted management after allegedly discovering that an external union representative, who was attending the event as a guest, had recorded the session. Plant manager André Thierig stated in a post on X that the representative was “caught in action,” prompting the company to contact police and file a criminal complaint.
The seized device is now part of the investigation, and authorities will determine whether any unlawful recording had indeed occurred.
IG Metall has denied the accusation. In comments to German media, representatives rejected Tesla’s claim and described the electric vehicle maker’s allegation as an election campaign tactic ahead of upcoming works council elections.
The election at Tesla’s Grünheide plant is scheduled for March 2–4, 2026, with about 11,000 employees being eligible to vote. Regular works council elections in Germany are held every four years between March and May.
The incident comes amid tensions between Tesla and organized labor in Germany. While works councils operate independently from unions, IG Metall has been active at the plant and has previously criticized Tesla’s labor practices. Authorities, for their part, have not yet announced whether charges will be filed, though the investigation remains ongoing.
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Tesla rolls out xAI’s Grok to vehicles across Europe
The initial rollout includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain.
Tesla is rolling out Grok to vehicles in Europe. The feature will initially launch in nine European territories.
In a post on X, the official Tesla Europe, Middle East & Africa account confirmed that Grok is coming to Teslas in Europe. The initial rollout includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain, and additional markets are expected to be added later.
Grok allows drivers to ask questions using real-time information and interact hands-free while driving. According to Tesla’s support documentation, Grok can also initiate navigation commands, enabling users to search for destinations, discover points of interest, and adjust routes without touching the touchscreen, as per the feature’s official webpage.
The system offers selectable personalities, ranging from “Storyteller” to “Unhinged,” and is activated either through the App Launcher or by pressing and holding the steering wheel’s microphone button.
Grok is currently available only on Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck vehicles equipped with an AMD infotainment processor. Vehicles must be running software version 2025.26 or later, with navigation command support requiring version 2025.44.25 or newer.
Drivers must also have Premium Connectivity or a stable Wi-Fi connection to use the feature. Tesla notes that Grok does not currently replace standard voice commands for vehicle controls such as climate or media adjustments.
The company has stated that Grok interactions are processed securely by xAI and are not linked to individual drivers or vehicles. Users do not need a Grok account or subscription to enable the feature at this time as well.
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Tesla ends Full Self-Driving purchase option in the U.S.
In January, Musk announced that Tesla would remove the ability to purchase the suite outright for $8,000. This would give the vehicle Full Self-Driving for its entire lifespan, but Tesla intended to move away from it, for several reasons, one being that a tranche in the CEO’s pay package requires 10 million active subscriptions of FSD.
Tesla has officially ended the option to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that was announced for the United States market in January by CEO Elon Musk.
The driver assistance suite is now exclusively available in the U.S. as a subscription, which is currently priced at $99 per month.
Tesla moved away from the outright purchase option in an effort to move more people to the subscription program, but there are concerns over its current price and the potential for it to rise.
In January, Musk announced that Tesla would remove the ability to purchase the suite outright for $8,000. This would give the vehicle Full Self-Driving for its entire lifespan, but Tesla intended to move away from it, for several reasons, one being that a tranche in the CEO’s pay package requires 10 million active subscriptions of FSD.
Although Tesla moved back the deadline in other countries, it has now taken effect in the U.S. on Sunday morning. Tesla updated its website to reflect this:
🚨 Tesla has officially moved the outright purchase option for FSD on its website pic.twitter.com/RZt1oIevB3
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 15, 2026
There are still some concerns regarding its price, as $99 per month is not where many consumers are hoping to see the subscription price stay.
Musk has said that as capabilities improve, the price will go up, but it seems unlikely that 10 million drivers will want to pay an extra $100 every month for the capability, even if it is extremely useful.
Instead, many owners and fans of the company are calling for Tesla to offer a different type of pricing platform. This includes a tiered-system that would let owners pick and choose the features they would want for varying prices, or even a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual pricing option, which would incentivize longer-term purchasing.
Although Musk and other Tesla are aware of FSD’s capabilities and state is is worth much more than its current price, there could be some merit in the idea of offering a price for Supervised FSD and another price for Unsupervised FSD when it becomes available.
Tesla Giga Berlin dispute against IG Metall union leads to investigation
Tesla rolls out xAI’s Grok to vehicles across Europe
