Is Porsche’s new Taycan faster than a Ferrari SF90 or Yamaha R1M? In an epic new drag race, the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT flexed its power, leaving the Ferrari and Yamaha bike in the dust. Watch the video below.

Porsche Taycan Turbo GT races a Ferrari and Yamaha

Porsche unveiled the Turbo GT model after introducing the upgraded Taycan in February. The new Porsche Taycan has significant improvements, including more range and performance.

The Taycan Turbo GT is Porsche’s fastest production car yet. With up to 1,092 hp, the electric sports car, equipped with its Wiessach Package, can hit 0 to 60 mph in just 2.1 seconds.

Porsche’s GT model took the title from the Tesla Model S Plaid as the fastest electric series production car at the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in California earlier this year. With a lap time of 1:27:87, Porsche topped the previous record of 1:30:30 set by the Tesla Model S Plaid in 2020.

Is the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT fast enough to beat a Ferrari SF90 and Yamaha R1M? The folks at Carwow put them up against one another in a drag race to see.

The Taycan goes up against the SF90 with 769 hp from a 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 combined with three electric motors. Meanwhile, the Yamaha RM1 is powered by a 1 liter 4 stroke engine, which is good for 200 hp.

You can see that Porsche had no problem handling the Ferrari and Yamaha in the first race. Even with the Ferrari jumping the line in the next race, the Taycan proves its might, beating both to the line. After a few more attempts, the Porsche remained undefeated.

The Taycan Turbo GT completed a quarter-mile in 9.9 seconds, compared to the Ferrari SF90’s 10.0 seconds and the Yamaha RM1’s 10.3 seconds.

With all that power, Porsche’s Taycan Turbo GT, with the Weissach package, comes with a hefty price tag, starting at $230,000. The base 2025 Porsche Taycan starts at $99,400, while the more expensive Turbo and Turbo S trims start at $173,600 and $209,000, respectively.

After finally getting its hands on one, the GT model already took down one of the kings of Carwow’s drag strip. Which vehicle will it take down next?

BYD will officially launch some of its most popular EVs in another overseas market in just a few weeks. The Chinese EV giant is now looking to break into South Korea, a market dominated by automakers like Hyundai. Can BYD’s low-cost EVs break Hyundai’s grip in the region?

BYD will launch EVs in South Korea in January 2025

After another record sales month in November, its second with over 500,000 vehicle sales, BYD is making a strong push overseas to drive growth.

BYD is already a leading EV brand in many overseas regions, such as Southeast Asia and Central and South America. Now, it aims to increase its global market share even further.

China’s largest automaker expects sales to quickly accelerate in places like Europe with EVs tailored to customer preferences, like its new Sealion 07 mid-size electric SUV. It’s also starting to break into Toyota’s home market in Japan.

Most recently, BYD confirmed plans to challenge Hyundai on its home turf. On January 16, 2025, BYD will officially launch some of its most popular EVs in South Korea, including the Dolphin, Atto 3, and Seal.

According to Chinese media outlet Yiche, BYD aims to sell 10,000 vehicles in South Korea next year. It will open 15 showrooms in high-traffic locations such as Seoul, Busan, and others.

Despite recent rumors, BYD denied plans to enter the Korean rental car market. The company will instead focus on growing its passenger car business.

BYD will face stiff competition from Hyundai and Kia, which are launching low-cost EVs of their own. In Korea, Hyundai’s Casper Electric starts at around $20,000 (27.4 million won). With incentives, it can be bought for as little as $7,300 (10 million won). Meanwhile, Kia’s electric EV3 SUV starts at around $30,000 (42.08 million won).

Can BYD match Hyundai and Kia? BYD’s EVs are some of the most affordable in China and abroad. Its cheapest, the Seagull EV (Dolphin Mini overseas), starts at under $10,000 in China.

However, in overseas markets, where it’s imported, the Seagull (Dolphin Mini) costs twice as much, at around $20,000 in Brazil and Mexico. The same is true of its Atto 3. BYD’s electric SUV starts at under $20,000, but in places like Germany, it’s priced at around $43,000.

Electrek’s Take

BYD is already finding some success in Japan, another market dominated by domestic players like Toyota. Through the first nine months of 2024, the company sold 1,742 EVs in Japan, up 96% from last year. BYD accounted for around 3% of Japan’s EV sales.

After launching the Seal in Japan, starting at $33,100 (¥5.28 million), BYD’s electric sedan was the top-selling EV import by August.

Other BYD EV models, including the Atto 3 and Dolphin, start at around $30,000 (¥4.4 million) and $24,500 (¥3.63 million), respectively. Prices are expected to be similar in South Korea.

Hyundai accounted for over 50% of auto sales in South Korea last year. Kia accounted for around 39%. Will BYD gain a foothold? Let us know your thoughts below.

Source: CarNewsChina, Yiche

Elon Musk reportedly discussed with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa the potential of Tesla building a battery factory in South Africa.

The conversation between Musk and Ramaphosa reportedly happened earlier this year, but it was only now reported by Bloomberg.

According to the report, Musk approached the president of his home country to ease regulations and allow Starlink, his satellite-based internet service operated by SpaceX, to operate in the country.

South Africa has rules requiring Starlink to be at least 30% Black-owned to operate, which would likely require SpaceX to partner with locals.

How does Tesla play into this?

According to the report, Musk and Ramaphosa discussed the potential of Tesla to build a battery factory in South Africa as part of a deal to encourage the country to relax its rules to enable Starlink to operate locally.

It’s unclear what kind of “battery factory” they are discussing.

Tesla does produce its own battery cells at Gigafactory Texas, but the production is somewhat limited, and the company is still having issues ramping up. The cells are currently only used in Tesla’s Cybertruck.

The company is also producing battery packs for its electric vehicles and its energy storage business, the latter is expanding much faster than its EV business. Tesla has been building what it calls “Megafactory” to produce its Megapack for energy storage.

Tesla has been rumored to have discussions about building factories in South Africa since 2016, but nothing has come out of it yet.

Electrek’s Take

I’d would take this report with a grain of salt. I doubt that Tesla is currently seriously considering a “battery factory” in South Africa. At best, they have maybe talked about a Megapack factory, but even then, I would see Tesla build such factories in other markets before South Africa.

If Elon indeed talked about a Tesla factory in exchange for allowing Starlink to operate with looser requirements, it does raise interesting questions about how he operates between companies.

It is again flirting with resource tunneling: using a public company under his control to get benefits for his privately owned companies.

But either way, Elon has even clearer examples of resource tunneling.