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Porsche Taycan debut set for September 4, top facts about upcoming sports EV emerge
Porsche has confirmed that the formal debut of its first modern all-electric car, the Taycan, is set for September 4, 2019 at 9 a.m. EST. The vehicle will be launched at three locations: one in Canada, one in Germany, and another in China. With the Taycan’s launch, Porsche would be breaching a premium EV market that is so far dominated by Tesla and increasingly populated by veteran automakers such as Jaguar, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz.
The Taycan’s unveiling is only a few weeks away, and Porsche has been notably more open about giving access to its highly-secretive vehicle to the media. So far, the vehicle has been received extremely well. Fifth Gear presenter and Fully Charged host Jonny Smith, for one, was allowed to test the repeatability of the Taycan Turbo’s maximum performance during launches. The vehicle proved impressive for the host, as he was able to launch at max power 26 times with nary a drop in the car’s 0-60 mph performance.
Motoring publication Car and Driver was also able to experience the Porsche Taycan Turbo. Together with Porsche product line director for EVs Robert Meier, the publication was able to get some unique insights on the upcoming vehicle. The Taycan pre-production prototype, behind all its camouflage, was equipped with active anti-roll bars, carbon-ceramic brake rotors, rear-wheel steering, air springs, and a 21″ wheel and tire setup.
During Car and Driver‘s ride-along, Meier noted that the Taycan, thanks to its floor-mounted battery pack, actually has the lowest center of gravity in the company’s entire lineup. Comfort was a key portion of the Taycan’s development process as well, considering that the vehicle will be marketed as a four-door sedan that’s a step beneath the Panamera (and in turn, the Tesla Model S) in size. Highlighting the Taycan’s quickness, the Porsche executive noted that the vehicle will not see a drop in performance even when the battery is discharged past 50%.
Also notable is that the Taycan, unlike Tesla’s offerings like the Model 3 Performance, features a two-speed gearbox on its rear axle. This marks one of the first times that a production EV will be equipped with a two-speed gearbox, and it should provide a sizable benefit in both performance and efficiency. It would be interesting to see how Porsche manages the Taycan’s gearbox, considering Tesla’s experience with the original Roadster. During Tesla’s early days, the company equipped the original Roadster with a two-speed gearbox, but the components just kept breaking since the gearboxes could not handle the punishment from the vehicle’s electric motor.Â
Porsche states that the Taycan will have a range of 500 km (311 miles), though Car and Driver notes that this figure is based on the European NEDC cycle, which is far more generous than the more stringent and real-world accurate EPA cycle. During its ride-along with the vehicle, the publication noted that the Taycan showed a predicted 234 miles of range on a full charge, which reportedly seemed accurate considering that the trip’s route consisted of twisty mountain roads and 70-mph highway cruising. Meier’s comments to the publication’s team about being “conservative” with the Taycan’s range figure further adds to the idea of the vehicle having a US range rating that’s likely closer to 200 than 300 miles.
The Taycan has other notable quirks, including, but not limited to, two charging ports, its lack of one-pedal driving, and its sound, which could be heard especially at low speeds. This was particularly audible during Fully Charged host Jonny Smith’s first drive of the vehicle. With its low, bass-filled whine, the Taycan sounds not unlike those futuristic vehicles in sci-fi films.
Watch Fully Charged‘s experience with the Porsche Taycan Turbo in the video below.
Tesla has officially expanded its Full Self-Driving (FSD) suite in Europe once again, as it will now be offered to customer vehicles in Lithuania, marking a significant milestone as the second European Union country to offer the system.
Tesla confirmed FSD’s rollout in Lithuania this morning:
FSD Supervised now rolling out to Teslas in Lithuania 🇱🇹!
Making European roads safer, one by one pic.twitter.com/Uuj0bNG7pP
— Tesla Europe, Middle East & Africa (@teslaeurope) May 20, 2026
Tesla showed several clips of Full Self-Driving navigation in Lithuania to mark the announcement, while Lithuanian Transport Minister Juras Taminskas highlighted the system’s potential to assist with lane-keeping, speed adjustment, and traffic tasks on longer drives, while emphasizing that drivers must stay alert and ready to intervene.
Just a few weeks ago, Tesla officially entered Europe with Full Self-Driving in the Netherlands. The expansion of FSD on the continent is now officially underway.
Full Self-Driving’s European Journey
Europe has long posed one of the toughest regulatory challenges for Tesla’s autonomy ambitions due to stringent safety standards under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) framework, particularly UN Regulation 171 for Driver Control Assistance Systems.
The Netherlands’ RDW authority granted the pioneering approval after over 18 months of rigorous testing, including 1.6 million kilometers on European roads and extensive data submissions.
This approval enables mutual recognition across the EU, allowing other member states to adopt it nationally without full re-testing. Lithuania quickly leveraged this mechanism, becoming the second adopter. Tesla positions FSD Supervised as a tool to incrementally improve road safety, with the company claiming it reduces incidents when used properly.
Bottlenecks slowing broader European deployment include fragmented national regulations, varying levels of regulatory skepticism, and requirements for robust driver monitoring. Some EU officials have raised concerns about performance in adverse conditions like icy roads or speeding scenarios, alongside frustrations over Tesla’s public advocacy approach.
Additional hurdles involve data privacy, liability frameworks, and the need for EU-wide harmonization. While countries like Belgium appear to be fast-tracking adoption, larger markets such as Germany, France, and Italy are expected to follow in the coming months, with potential EU-wide progress targeted for later in 2026.
Tesla Full Self-Driving Across the World
As of May, Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is available in approximately ten countries.
In North America, it has been live for years in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Asia-Pacific additions include Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea, while China utilizes what Tesla calls “City Autopilot.” In Europe, the Netherlands and now Lithuania join the list, with more countries mulling the possibility of also approving FSD.
Tesla offers FSD via monthly subscriptions (around €99 in Europe) or one-time purchases (with deadlines approaching in many markets), shifting toward recurring revenue models. Today is the final day Europeans will be able to purchase the suite outright.
This expansion underscores Tesla’s push for global autonomy, starting with supervised and building toward greater capabilities. With Lithuania now online, momentum is building across Europe, though regulatory caution will continue shaping the pace. Owners in approved regions report smoother highway and urban driving, but the system remains Level 2, which requires human oversight.
Elon Musk
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
Tesla has ditched its plans to build a factory in India after years of failed negotiations.
Tesla’s long-running effort to establish a manufacturing presence in India is officially over. India’s Minister of Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy confirmed on May 19, 2026 that Tesla has informed authorities it will not proceed with a manufacturing facility in the country.
Tesla first signaled serious interest in India around 2021, when it began hiring local staff and lobbying the Indian government for lower import tariffs. The ask was straightforward: reduce duties enough for Tesla to test the market with imported vehicles before committing capital to a local factory. India’s position was equally firm, with an ask of Tesla to commit to manufacturing first, then receive tariff relief. Neither side moved, and the talks quietly collapsed.
Tesla to open first India experience center in Mumbai on July 15
India had offered a policy that would reduce import duties from 110% down to 15% on EVs priced above $35,000, provided companies committed at least $500 million toward local manufacturing investment within three years. Tesla declined to participate. The tariff standoff was only part of the problem. Analysts pointed to significant gaps in India’s local supply chain, inadequate industrial infrastructure, and a mismatch between Tesla’s premium pricing and the purchasing power of India’s automotive market as additional factors that made the investment difficult to justify.
First signs of an unraveling relationship came in April 2024, when Musk abruptly cancelled a planned trip to India where he was set to meet Prime Minister Modi and announce Tesla’s market entry. By July 2024, Fortune reported that Tesla executives had stopped contacting Indian government officials entirely. The government at that point understood Tesla had capital constraints and no plans to invest.
The more fundamental issue is that Tesla’s existing factories are currently operating at approximately 60% capacity, making a commitment to building new manufacturing capacity in a new market difficult to defend to investors. Tesla will continue selling imported Model Y vehicles through its existing showrooms in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, but local production is no longer part of the plan.
SpaceX has revealed the date for the maiden voyage of Starship v3, its newest and most advanced version of the rocket yet.
Starship v3 represents a significant leap forward. At 124 meters tall when fully stacked, it stands taller than previous versions and boasts substantial upgrades.
The vehicle incorporates next-generation Raptor 3 engines, which deliver higher thrust, improved reliability, and simplified designs with fewer parts. Both the Super Heavy booster (Booster 19) and the Starship upper stage (Ship 39) feature these enhancements, along with structural improvements for greater payload capacity—exceeding 100 metric tons to low Earth orbit in reusable configuration.
SpaceX and its CEO Elon Musk have announced that the company aims to push the first launch of Starship v3 this Thursday. Musk included some clips of past Starship launches with the announcement.
Now targeting launch as early as Thursday, May 21 → https://t.co/2gZQUxS6mm
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 19, 2026
First Starship V3 launch later this week! pic.twitter.com/JFX4CrSfnY
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 19, 2026
There are a lot of improvements to Starship v3 from past builds. Key hardware changes include a more robust heat shield, upgraded avionics, and modifications optimized for orbital refueling, a critical technology for future missions to the Moon and Mars. This flight marks the first launch from Starbase’s second orbital pad, allowing parallel operations and accelerating the cadence of tests.
This will be the 12th Starship launch for SpaceX. Flight 12 objectives include a full ascent profile, hot-staging separation, in-space engine relights, and reentry testing. The booster is expected to perform a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, while the ship will deploy 20 Starlink simulator satellites and a pair of modified Starlink V3 units before attempting reentry.
Success would validate V3’s design for operational use, paving the way for rapid reusability and higher flight rates.
The rapid evolution from V2 to V3 underscores SpaceX’s iterative approach. Previous flights demonstrated booster catches, ship landings, and heat shield advancements. V3 builds on these with nearly every component refined, supported by an expanding production line at Starbase that churns out vehicles at an unprecedented pace.
Starship V3 is here putting SpaceX closer to Mars than it has ever been
This launch comes amid growing momentum for SpaceX’s ambitious goals. Starship is central to NASA’s Artemis program for lunar landings and Elon Musk’s vision of making humanity multiplanetary. A successful V3 debut would boost confidence in achieving orbital refueling and crewed missions in the coming years.
As excitement builds, enthusiasts and engineers alike await liftoff. Weather and technical readiness will determine the exact timing, but the community is optimistic. Starship V3 is poised to push the boundaries of spaceflight once again, bringing reusable interplanetary transport closer to reality.
Tesla Full Self-Driving expands in Europe, entering its second country
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
