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Porsche starts preparing its Zuffenhausen site for the Taycan’s production ramp
Porsche is setting the stage for the ramp of one of its most important vehicles to date — the Taycan — the veteran carmaker’s first all-electric car. The Taycan is expected to start production sometime in 2019, and to ensure that its facilities are ready for the vehicle, projects are now underway in Porsche’s Zuffenhausen facility, which will house the manufacturing line for the electric sedan.
The pedigreed carmaker has decided to set up the Taycan’s production lines in Zuffenhausen, a site with a long, storied history. Several cars, among them the iconic Porsche 911, the 718 Boxster, and the 718 Cayman, are built on the same location. A press release from Porsche notes that for the Taycan’s upcoming ramp, the company is creating 1,500 jobs and investing €700 million (over $797 million) to augment and prepare its facilities.
Several aspects of Porsche’s projects in Zuffenhausen stand out, particularly a conveyor system that transports drive system components and painted e-car bodies from the paint shop to the assembly line. The conveyor system is impressive, standing at a height of twenty meters above a four-lane main road in Stuttgart, which divides the site in half.
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- Porsche’s upcoming Taycan production facilities in Zuffenhausen, Germany. (Photo: Porsche)
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- Porsche’s upcoming Taycan production facilities in Zuffenhausen, Germany. (Photo: Porsche)
Porsche’s upcoming Taycan production facilities in Zuffenhausen, Germany. (Photo: Porsche)
Porsche also notes that the assembly and logistics hall for the Taycan’s production will be its largest building complex in Zuffenhausen. The company describes the construction of the structure as a balancing act, considering that the facility must be completed while the production of the 911, Boxster, and Cayman are continuing their usual output. Reiner Luth, head planner for the factory project, compares the balancing act to a medical procedure.
“The heart of Porsche beats in Zuffenhausen. We’re basically doing open-heart surgery,” he said.
Porsche has also shared images of its paint shop, whose steel structure is self-supporting. The company notes that final work on the Taycan’s paint shop is already underway. The Taycan’s body shop, which will be the second-largest building in the Zuffenhausen facility, is also being developed. Pre-production bodies of the 911 and later, the Taycan, will be made on the building.
Just like its rival, Tesla, Porsche intends to make its Zuffenhausen as environmentally-friendly as possible. Jürgen King, head of central construction management for the site’s expansion, explains that the factory will eventually be a C02-neutral plant. King also notes that the pace of the project is so far the fastest-moving in Porsche’s history.
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- Porsche’s upcoming Taycan production facilities in Zuffenhausen, Germany. (Photo: Porsche)
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- Porsche’s upcoming Taycan production facilities in Zuffenhausen, Germany. (Photo: Porsche)
Porsche’s upcoming Taycan production facilities in Zuffenhausen, Germany. (Photo: Porsche)
“Given these framework conditions, what we have is not only the biggest but also the fastest-moving construction site in Porsche’s history. When we’re finished expanding the factory for the Taycan, Porsche will produce zero-emission cars in a CO2-neutral plant. And that is a well-rounded result,” he said.
Porsche notes that the demand for the Taycan has been very impressive so far. Last year, the legacy automaker opened pre-orders for the vehicle, and the reception has been so positive that Porsche is now increasing the initial production of the vehicle. As noted by Porsche CEO Olliver Blume, for one, the company has logged almost 3,000 Taycan reservations in Norway alone. That’s a country where Porsche sells about 600 vehicles per year on average.
While the Taycan is about to enter production, Porsche is yet to unveil the final design of the all-electric car’s release version. So far, Porsche employs several dozens of camouflaged prototypes for testing, as well as a working version of the Mission E sedan concept car to promote the vehicle. In the company’s promotional materials for the car, Porsche states that despite the lack of engine in the Taycan, the all-electric car will still have the ever-present “soul” found in all of its other vehicles.
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Tesla adds awesome new driving feature to Model Y
Tesla is rolling out a new “Comfort Braking” feature with Software Update 2026.8. The feature is exclusive to the new Model Y, and is currently unavailable for any other vehicle in the Tesla lineup.
Tesla is adding an awesome new driving feature to Model Y vehicles, effective on Juniper-updated models considered model year 2026 or newer.
Tesla is rolling out a new “Comfort Braking” feature with Software Update 2026.8. The feature is exclusive to the new Model Y, and is currently unavailable for any other vehicle in the Tesla lineup.
Tesla writes in the release notes for the feature:
“Your Tesla now provides a smoother feel as you come to a complete stop during routine braking.”
🚨 Tesla has added a new “Comfort Braking” update with 2026.8
“Your Tesla provides a smoother feel as you come to a complete stop during routine braking.” https://t.co/afqCpBSVeA pic.twitter.com/C6MRmzfzls
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 13, 2026
Interestingly, we’re not too sure what catalyzed Tesla to try to improve braking smoothness, because it hasn’t seemed overly abrupt or rough from my perspective. Although the brake pedal in my Model Y is rarely used due to Regenerative Braking, it seems Tesla wanted to try to make the ride comfort even smoother for owners.
There is always room for improvement, though, and it seems that there is a way to make braking smoother for passengers while the vehicle is coming to a stop.
This is far from the first time Tesla has attempted to improve its ride comfort through Over-the-Air updates, as it has rolled out updates to improve regenerative braking performance, handling while using Full Self-Driving, improvements to Steer-by-Wire to Cybertruck, and even recent releases that have combatted Active Road Noise.
Tesla holds a unique ability to change the functionality of its vehicles through software updates, which have come in handy for many things, including remedying certain recalls and shipping new features to the Full Self-Driving suite.
Tesla seems to have the most seamless OTA processes, as many automakers have the ability to ship improvements through a simple software update.
We’re really excited to test the update, so when we get an opportunity to try out Comfort Braking when it makes it to our Model Y.
News
Tesla finally brings a Robotaxi update that Android users will love
The breakdown of the software version shows that Tesla is actively developing an Android-compatible version of the Robotaxi app, and the company is developing Live Activities for Android.
Tesla is finally bringing an update of its Robotaxi platform that Android users will love — mostly because it seems like they will finally be able to use the ride-hailing platform that the company has had active since last June.
Based on a decompile of software version 26.2.0 of the Robotaxi app, Tesla looks to be ready to roll out access to Android users.
According to the breakdown, performed by Tesla App Updates, the company is preparing to roll out an Android version of the app as it is developing several features for that operating system.
🚨 It looks like Tesla is preparing to launch the Robotaxi app for Android users at last!
A decompile of v26.2.0 of the Robotaxi app shows some progress on the Android side for Robotaxi 🤖 🚗 https://t.co/mThmoYuVLy
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 13, 2026
The breakdown of the software version shows that Tesla is actively developing an Android-compatible version of the Robotaxi app, and the company is developing Live Activities for Android:
“Strings like notification_channel_robotaxid_trip_name and android_native_alicorn_eta_text show exactly how Tesla plans to replicate the iOS Live Activities experience. Instead of standard push alerts, Android users are getting a persistent, dynamically updating notification channel.”
This is a big step forward for several reasons. From a face-value perspective, Tesla is finally ready to offer Robotaxi to Android users.
The company has routinely prioritized Apple releases because there is a higher concentration of iPhone users in its ownership base. Additionally, the development process for Apple is simply less laborious.
Tesla is working to increase Android capabilities in its vehicles
Secondly, the Robotaxi rollout has been a typical example of “slowly then all at once.”
Tesla initially released Robotaxi access to a handful of media members and influencers. Eventually, it was expanded to more users, so that anyone using an iOS device could download the app and hail a semi-autonomous ride in Austin or the Bay Area.
Opening up the user base to Android users may show that Tesla is preparing to allow even more users to utilize its Robotaxi platform, and although it seems to be a few months away from only offering fully autonomous rides to anyone with app access, the expansion of the user base to an entirely different user base definitely seems like its a step in the right direction.
News
Lucid unveils Lunar Robotaxi in bid to challenge Tesla’s Cybercab in the autonomous ride hailing race
Lucid’s Lunar robotaxi is gunning for Tesla’s Cybercab in the autonomous ride hailing race
![Lucid Lunar robotaxi concept [Credit: Rendering by TESLARATI]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/lucid-lunar-robotaxi-concept-teslarati-rendering.jpg)
Lucid Group pulled back the curtain on its purpose-built autonomous robotaxi platform dubbed the Lunar Concept. Announced at its New York investor day event, Lunar is arguably the company’s most ambitious concept yet, and a direct line of sight toward the autonomous ride haling market that Tesla looks to control.
At Lucid Investor Day 2026, the company introduced Lunar, a purpose-built robotaxi concept based on the Midsize platform.
A comparison to Tesla’s Cybercab is unavoidable. The concept of a Tesla robotaxi was first introduced by Elon Musk back in April 2019 during an event dubbed “Autonomy Day,” where he envisioned a network of self-driving Tesla vehicles transporting passengers while not in use by their owners. That vision took another major step in October 2024 when, Musk unveiled the Cybercab at the Tesla “We, Robot” event held at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, where 20 concept Cybercabs autonomously drove around the studio lot giving rides to attendees.
Fast forward to today, and Tesla’s ambitions are finally materializing, but not without friction. As we recently reported, the Cybercab is being spotted with increasing frequency on public roads and across the grounds of Gigafactory Texas, suggesting that the company’s road testing and validation program is ramping meaningfully ahead of mass production. Tesla already operates a small scale robotaxi service in Austin using supervised Model Ys, but the Cybercab is designed from the ground up for high-volume, low-cost production, with Musk stating an eventual goal of producing one vehicle every 10 seconds.
At Lucid Investor Day 2026, the company introduced Lunar, a purpose-built robotaxi concept based on the Midsize platform.
Into this landscape steps Lucid’s Lunar. Built on the company’s all-new Midsize EV platform, which will also underpin consumer SUVs starting below $50,000. The Lunar mirrors the Cybercab’s core philosophy of having two seats, no driver controls, and a focus on fleet economics. The platform introduces Lucid’s redesigned Atlas electric drive unit, engineered to be smaller, lighter, and cheaper to manufacture at scale.
Unlike Tesla’s strategy of building its own ride hailing network from scratch, Lucid is partnering with Uber. The companies are said to be in advanced discussions to deploy Midsize platform vehicles at large scale, with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi publicly backing Lucid’s engineering credentials and autonomous-ready architecture.
In the investor day event, Lucid also outlined a recurring software revenue model, with an in-vehicle AI assistant and monthly autonomous driving subscriptions priced between $69 and $199. This can be seen as a nod to the software revenue stream that Tesla has long championed with its Full Self-Driving subscription.
Tesla’s Cybercab is targeting a price point below $30k and with operating costs as low as 20 cents per mile. But with regulatory hurdles still ahead, the window for competition is open. Lucid’s Lunar may not have a launch date yet, but it arrives at a pivotal moment, and when the robotaxi race is no longer viewed as hypothetical. Rather, every serious EV player needs to come to bat on the same plate that Tesla has had countless practice swings on over the last seven years.
Tesla adds awesome new driving feature to Model Y
Tesla finally brings a Robotaxi update that Android users will love
![Lucid Lunar robotaxi concept [Credit: Rendering by TESLARATI]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/lucid-lunar-robotaxi-concept-teslarati-rendering-80x80.jpg)
