Connect with us

News

Tesla Model 3 chases down Porsche Taycan Turbo S lap time, and comes very close

(Credit: Rex Raikkonen/YouTube)

Published

on

While the Porsche Taycan Turbo S and the Tesla Model 3 Performance are very different vehicles, both electric sedans are capable of handling the demands of track driving. The Turbo S far exceeds the Model 3 Performance in terms of price, however, with the German-made super-sedan starting at a price roughly equal to three Model 3 Performance units. 

The wide gap between the Model 3 and the Taycan Turbo S’ price encouraged racing enthusiast and EV owner Rex Raikkonen to see just how far he could push his Tesla on the track. Going into the 2020 SCCA Time Trial Nationals, Raikkonen tried to see if his Model 3 Performance could catch the lap set by the Porsche Taycan Turbo S at the National Corvette Museum (NCM) track. 

Raikkonen’s Model 3 Performance did have suspension upgrades from EV tuning house Mountain Pass Performance, but the all-electric sedan was still running on street tires. The Tesla owner’s goal for the lap was ambitious, seeing as the Taycan Turbo S ran a 2:15.3 lap with professional driver Andy Pilgrim behind the wheel. The Taycan’s run, featured on Automobile Magazine’s Pro Racers show on YouTube, showed just how well-tuned the electric super-sedan was for the circuit. 

Raikkonen pushed his Model 3 Performance hard around the NCM track, and though the Tesla owner noted that his car could not match the Taycan Turbo S’ raw speed during the straights, the American-made EV was able to impress nonetheless. The Tesla Model 3 Performance was ultimately able to complete a lap around the NCM track in 2:15.8, just half a second behind the Porsche Taycan Turbo S. 

Advertisement

Comments about the run posted on the r/TeslaMotors subreddit mentioned that the Model 3 could have actually matched or even beat the Taycan Turbo S’ 2:15.3 time if Raikkonen had driven a bit more aggressively during his hot lap. With a set of better tires and a more aggressive driving style, the reasonably affordable Model 3 could have exhibited an even more impressive lap. 

While he fell 0.5 seconds short of the Taycan Turbo S, Raikkonen remarked that he was not disappointed with his Model 3 at all. The vehicle, after all, only cost about $70,000 including its Mountain Pass Performance upgrades. That’s just a fraction of the Taycan Turbo S’ premium price, which usually reaches well into the $200,000s when specced. 

Watch the Model 3 Performance’s run around the NCM track in the video below. 

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement
Comments

Investor's Corner

Tesla gets its latest short from Michael Burry: ‘Happy it jumped back to this level’

Published

on

Credit: MarcoRP | X

Tesla short seller Michael Burry, the subject of the film “The Big Short,” where he was portrayed by Steve Carell, has revealed he has opened a new bet against the stock.

In a new update to his Substack newsletter in a post titled “Trading Post June 30, 2026,” Burry revealed a new set of bets against Tesla, Caterpillar, NVIDIA, Applied Materials Inc., and the iShares Semiconductor ETF.

In regard to Tesla, Burry wrote:

“And finally I shorted Tesla at 416.22. Happy it jumped back to this level.”

This means Burry likely opened his new short position after the company’s recent rally on Wall Street, which saw Tesla shares sink in mid-May, only to recover to well over the $400 mark. Currently, shares trade at around $427.

The company saw a big Tuesday as shares climbed considerably, over 10 percent. The size of the Tesla short was not provided, nor did Burry give any information on the position’s structure, the number of shares, dollar value, or whether options were used in the short.

The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building

Over the years, Burry has been one of the more vocal critics of Tesla, calling its share price “media inflated,” and saying it was “ridiculously overvalued” as recently as December.

The company has largely transitioned away from being known as an automotive company and instead is much more widely regarded as an AI play, mostly due to its Full Self-Driving efforts, Optimus robot development, and data collection related to both.

This has not pulled those skeptics away from being vocal about their distaste for how Tesla is valued, but there’s no denying that the company is a global force in many things, including sustainable energy, automotive, and AI.

Continue Reading

Investor's Corner

SpaceX gets initial stock coverage from Tesla’s biggest bull

Published

on

SpaceX Starship V3 flight 12
SpaceX Starship V3 flight 12 (Credit: SpaceX)

Wedbush Securities is initiating stock coverage on SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX), marking the first comments on the company since it went public several weeks ago. Wedbush and its analyst handling coverage, Dan Ives, are widely bullish on fellow Musk company Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).

Ives wrote his first note initiating coverage of SpaceX shares on Wednesday with a $190 price target and an ‘Outperform’ rating. The firm believes the company is well positioned off of its IPO because of its wide array of projects, including AI compute power and infrastructure, connectivity projects, and launches.

“We view SpaceX as one of the most differentiated assets within the tech market with a strong footprint across its three core markets, with Starlink driving success with connectivity,” Ives wrote, “Starship launches leading to a demand flywheel and increasing deal flow for its Colossus clusters.”

Elon Musk called it Epic: The full story of SpaceX’s Starship Flight 12

Wedbush leans heavily on Starlink, which they say is the “profitability driver given the strength of its recurring revenue base of ~12 million subscribers as of June 5th.” Ives believes Starlink is still in the “early innings” of penetrating the global telecommunications and broadband market, as it only holds less than a 1 percent share. However, this number is sure to increase over time.

It also highlights the importance of Starship, which it says is an “essential layer” of SpaceX’s overall success. SpaceX developing and displaying the ability to reuse rockets is a major cost and reliability advantage “as it reduces the necessary hardware launch costs while generating a feedback loop for future flights to improve their launch flight rate without accelerating capex spend.”

Finally, SpaceX’s recent AI/Compute projects are also very elementary, Ives writes. It is worth mentioning Wedbush said its $190 price target is derived from a valuation forecast that sees the company yielding roughly $2.48 trillion of implied enterprise value.

There are also some factors that Wedbush did not take into account with its initial coverage. The firm wrote in the note:

“We note that there is optional value coming from Starship’s accelerating scale towards sub-$200/kg unit economics, orbital data centers, and enterprise AI monetization as these factors could drive meaningful upside but these face major hurdles, so we do not take that into account with our valuation.”

SpaceX shares are down just over 2 percent today, trading at around $167 at the time of publication.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla expands massive safety feature worldwide in latest update

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has expanded the footprint of a massive safety feature worldwide with a recent Software Update labeled as 2026.20.6. The expansion of the “Blind Spot Warning While Parked” feature represents the more widespread availability of the feature, which aims to prevent “dooring.”

Dooring is when a driver or passenger opens a car door into the path of an oncoming road user, usually a cyclist or motorcyclist. It is among the most common types of cycling accidents, the League of American Bicyclists says.

For this reason, Tesla created a feature that warns occupants not to open the door because an object is approaching. The feature will sound a chime, and it will also delay the opening of the door to prevent an incident.

The release notes state (via Not a Tesla App):

“If you attempt to open a door while an approaching object is detected in your blind spot (for example, a bicyclist approaching from behind) a chime sounds, and your door will not open upon initial button press. Wait a short time and press the button a second time to override the warning.”

Tesla initially rolled out this feature back in 2024 with the Model 3 “Highland.” However, it remained with the Model 3 exclusively for over a year; that was until Tesla added it to the Cybertruck this past Spring.

Now, it is making its way to the new Model Y, 2021 and newer Model S, and 2021 or newer Model X.

The prevention of dooring incidents could eliminate many injuries to cyclists, especially in an urban setting. Dooring accounts for 10-20 percent of bike-related crashes in major cities, and over 17,000 dooring-related incidents were treated in the U.S. over the course of a decade. These usually involve fractures, contusions, and head trauma.

Continue Reading