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Does Porsche still own the performance crown in the new electric era? Or do the new Chinese EVs take the title? Check out the epic race in a battle of international heavyweights – Germany vs. China.

Porsche Taycan GTS delivers performance in the EV era

Porsche is well-known for its high-performance car history, from the 911 GT2 to the Carrera GTS, which has shaped the brand as we know it today.

However, the auto industry is changing – and rapidly. The age of electric vehicles has arrived. To maintain its status as a performance leader, Porsche introduced its first all-electric car, the Taycan, in 2019.

In typical Porsche fashion, the German luxury automaker unveiled a high-performance GTS variant.

The Porsche Taycan GTS sedan and GTS Sport Turismo were released in November 2021, featuring its 93.4 kWh Performance Battery Plus (the same used in the Turbo and Turbo S), special GTS brand design features, and tuned suspension and performance equipment. You can see our full review of the Porsche Taycan GTS sedan here.

Porsche-Taycan-Chinese-EVs
Porsche Taycan GTS sedan and GTS Sport Turismo (Source: Porsche)

The all-electric sports sedan has two PSM electric motors, one on each axle, delivering over 590 hp (440 kW).

Using launch control (which activates Overboost Power), the Taycan GTS can race from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.

Can Chinese EVs beat a Porsche Taycan in a drag race?

Meanwhile, China is the world’s largest EV market, accounting for over 60% of all global electric car sales last year.

Chinese automakers in the region, like NIO and XPeng, are pioneering some of the industry’s most technologically advanced EVs with modern features that are attracting users at home and abroad.

Launched in 2017, Human Horizon’s HiPhi is a luxury electric vehicle brand with models including the “X” and the “Z.”

The company’s first EV model, the HiPhi X electric SUV, began deliveries in China in June 2021. Its second, the HiPhi Z luxury GT, referred to as the Chinese version of the Porsche Taycan EV, began production last year.

The HiPhi X competes directly against the BMW iX M60, while the HiPhi Z is aimed at the Porsche Taycan GTS.

To see if Porsche and BMW are still the performance leaders they have built a reputation on, Carwow put them up against the Chinese EVs from Human Horizon’s HiPhi brand.

Porsche Taycan GTS vs. BMW iX vs. Chinese EVs HiPhi X, Y (Source: Carwow)

The HiPhi Z has the most power (672 hp), followed by the BMW iX M60 (619 hp), while the Porsche Taycan GTS and HiPhi X both feature 598 hp.

Power
(hp)
Torque
(Nm)
Weight
(kg)
Price
Porsche Taycan GTS 598 850 2,310 $139,300
BMW iX M60 619 1,100 2,584 $108,900
HiPhi Z 672 820 2,539 $90,000
HiPhi X 598 820 2,580 $86,000
Porsche Taycan GTS vs. BMW iX M60 vs. HiPhi Z and X

To find out who makes the quickest electric car (Germany vs. China), the Porsche Taycan GTS and BMW iX M60 take on the HiPhi Z and X models in an epic drag race.

Are Porsche and BMW still the performance leaders they are known to be? Check out the video above to see if the Taycan GTS holds its own.

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Elon Musk claims Tesla protests are organized by Democrats without any proof whatsoever

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Elon Musk claims Tesla protests are organized by Democrats without any proof whatsoever

Elon Musk has claimed that the Democratic party organized recent protests at Tesla locations worldwide. As he usually does with his wild claims lately, he hasn’t offered any proof whatsoever.

Over the last few weeks, there have been growing protests at Tesla locations around the word.

It started small with just a few locations in the US, but it has since grown to now dozens of locations every weekend, with sometimes hundreds of people at some locations.

Protestors have different reasons for wanting to disrupt Tesla, but they are mostly centered around seeing the company as Elon Musk’s piggybank and they are upset at his involvement in the government through his financial contribution to Trump’s election and his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

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Musk took to X today to comment on the situation, and he made the claim that the protests at Tesla locations are funded by ActBlue:

An investigation has found 5 ActBlue-funded groups responsible for Tesla “protests”: Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project and Democratic Socialists of America. ActBlue funders include George Soros, Reid Hoffman, Herbert Sandler, Patricia Bauman, and Leah Hunt-Hendrix. ActBlue is currently under investigation for allowing foreign and illegal donations in criminal violation of campaign finance regulations. This week, 7 ActBlue senior officials resigned, including the associate general counsel.

ActBlue is a political action committee (PAC) used by the Democratic Party.

Musk did not elaborate on what “investigation” he was referring to nor did he provide any proof to back up his claim. In fact, he even asked for people to help provide information:

“If you know anything about this, please post in replies.”

Musk directly named Reid Hoffman, his former Paypal Mafia friend turned foe due to political differences, who was quick to deny any involvement:

Just one more of Elon’s false claims about me: I never funded anyone for Tesla protests. I don’t condone violence. But it’s clear Americans are angry at him – it’s easier to explain away their anger, than to accept that actions have consequences.

While the Democratic Party could be sympathetic to the Tesla protestors, there’s no evidence that they started the “Tesla Takedown” movement or have any significant involvement.

As we previously reported, it started as a grassroots movement with some posts on BlueSky, an X competitor, last month.

It has since gained considerable momentum, and they are now using Action Network, an open platform, to organize. As it grew, some groups have gotten involved to organize local protests, like The Disruption Project, which claims to stand “against the unjust systems of racial capitalism, the hetero-patriarchy, white supremacy and settler colonialism.”

In Seattle, The Troublemakers, a local environmentalist group, has also been helping organize.

The biggest blow to Musk’s claim is that there have also been protests outside the US, including in Canada and Europe. It’s unlikely that the US Democratic party would be involved in those.

There are currently six protests planned in Europe by the “Tesla Takedown” in the coming weeks:

Musk has also been involved in European politics, promoting far-right parties throughout Europe.

Along with the claims about the Tesla protests, Musk also retweeted someone linking several Cybertrucks burning down at a Tesla location in Seattle to “Democrat NGOs”:

Again, this claim is without evidence. In fact, the fires are still under investigation and it hasn’t yet been confirmed if it was arson.

Electrek’s Take

Could the Democratic Party be involved in some of the protests? It wouldn’t shock me, but you can claim that without proof.

I think most people involved in the protests are just mad at Elon for any of the hundreds of stupid things he has done or said in the last few months, including doing a couple of Nazi salutes at Trump’s inauguration.

He prefers to think that there’s some grand conspiracy against him because that’s easier to swallow than people hating home for being a compulsive liar, oligarch dork with the sense of humor of a maladjusted 13-year-old.

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Elon wants to rebuild exploded Cybertruck, Canadian cons, other bizarre EV news

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Elon wants to rebuild exploded Cybertruck, Canadian cons, other bizarre EV news

On today’s challenging episode of Quick Charge, Elon seems serious about rebuilding the Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, there are questions about Tesla’s record-setting weekend in Canada, and lots, lots more.

In other news, we’ve got a hot tub you can sail around a lake, a 140-ton electric hoverboard from Liebherr, a $1,000 electric pickup from China, questions about the effectiveness of EV rebates in general, and a 0% interest deal on an all-new electric Dodge Charger Daytona.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.

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U.S. could reach deal with Canada that avoids oil and gas tariffs, energy secretary says

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U.S. could reach deal with Canada that avoids oil and gas tariffs, energy secretary says

Energy Sec. Wright: We can get to no or very low tariffs, but it's got to be reciprocal

HOUSTON — The U.S. could reach an agreement with Canada that avoids tariffs on imports of oil, gas and other energy resources, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday.

Wright said such a scenario is “certainly is possible” but “it’s too early to say” in response to a question from CNBC during a press conference at the CERAWeek by S&P Global. The U.S. is in “active dialogue” with Canada and Mexico, the energy secretary said.

President Donald Trump has paused until April 2 tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports that are compliant with the agreement which governs trade in North America. Trump originally imposed broad 25% tariffs on goods from both countries as well as lesser 10% tariffs on energy imports from Canada.

It’s unclear, however, how much of the oil, gas and other energy that the U.S. imports from Canada is compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Wright declined to provide specifics when CNBC asked how much of those imports are USMCA compliant.

“I’m going to avoid the details for now,” Wright said. The energy secretary said, “We can get to no tariffs or very low tariffs but it’s got to be reciprocal” in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan.

Canada’s energy minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, warned last week that energy prices will rise in the U.S. if the tariffs on energy imports go into full effect.

“We will see higher gasoline prices as a function of energy, higher electricity prices from hydroelectricity from Canada, higher home heating prices associated with natural gas that comes from Canada and higher automobile prices,” Wilkinson told CNBC’s Megan Cassella in an interview.

The U.S. has been the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world for years. But many refiners in the U.S. are dependent on heavy crude imported from Canada. The U.S. imported 6.6 million barrels of crude oil per day on average in December, more than 60% of which came from Canada, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Wright acknowledged that the tariffs are creating uncertainty in energy markets as negotiations continue.

“We’re in the middle of negotiations for where things are going to go with tariffs, so that feels frightening and gripping right now but this time will pass,” Wright said. “Deals will be made, we’ll get certainty and we’ll have a positive economic environment for Americans going forward.”

U.S. crude oil fell more than 1% Monday to close at $66.03 per barrel, while global benchmark Brent closed at $69.28 per barrel. Crude oil futures have pulled back substantially as Trump’s trade policy creates uncertainty and OPEC+ has confirmed that it plans to gradually bring back 2.2 million barrels per day of production beginning next month.

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