logo
Tesla Model Y Performance hits the Nurburgring

Tesla Model Y Performance hits the Nurburgring

NZ Autocar23-05-2025
A revised Performance version of Tesla's 'Juniper' Model Y update will soon join the electric family SUV line-up.
Despite the camouflage, it's possible to make out subtle design tweaks. Tesla doesn't go all out to hide its potent Performance or top-spec Plaid versions. This tester has an identical front bumper to the facelifted Model Y, and the Cybertruck-inspired lighting signature.
Rear lights are unlikely to change either. In fact the only real change to hint it's the Performance model is in the new ducktail spoiler and flash wheel design. The latter will come wrapped in Pirelli P Zero tyres. You can expect red brake calipers too for the Performance mode, as seen on this prototype. And a lower ride height is possible.
Expect a suspension retune and perhaps extended range, given that the other variants showed range improvements. It is up to 620km for the Long Range Rear-Drive model.
Check out our review of the 2023 Tesla Model Y Performance here.
There could be a boost in performance, too. The previous Performance model managed 0-96 in 3.5 seconds. An even lower figure would place it amongst some seriously rapid SUVs.
There will surely be a redesigned centre console, like with the other updated Model Y variants. A new wheel is likely too. And instead of having two stalks the new car will have just one, with gear selection being done via the central screen.
The infotainment system is the latest from Tesla, although it sits within the same 15.4-inch touchscreen display.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Elon Musk reignites feud with Trump as 'big, beautiful bill' passes
Elon Musk reignites feud with Trump as 'big, beautiful bill' passes

1News

time10 hours ago

  • 1News

Elon Musk reignites feud with Trump as 'big, beautiful bill' passes

Elon Musk may find out what happens when DOGE bites man. The billionaire SpaceX, Tesla and X owner who catapulted his zealous embrace of US President Donald Trump into a powerful position slashing government spending now risks sweeping cuts to his own bottom line after resuming the feud that led to their very public bitter split last month. Musk's renewed heckling of Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts "One Big Beautiful Bill Act", which passed the Senate on Wednesday, threatens to put billions of dollars of his government contracts in jeopardy if Trump retaliates. The rupture of their tenuous peace has resulted in a wobbling of the stock price of a market-moving company and led the president to muse about deporting Musk to his native South Africa. In a Frankenstein-style twist, as Musk volleyed fresh critiques about the cost of Trump's signature legislation, Trump mused Wednesday about turning Musk's Department of Government Efficiency back on its creator. (Source: Associated Press) ADVERTISEMENT "DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon," Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a tour of a new immigration detention centre in Florida. Trump also suggested in an early morning social media post that if Musk lost his government contracts, he "would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa". Asked by a reporter later if he would deport Musk, Trump paused and said, "I don't know. We'll have to take a look." In response, Musk wrote on X: "So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now." Tesla and SpaceX did not respond to messages seeking comment about their chief executive. The big bill divide Musk has called Trump's big bill a financial boondoggle for America that would kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries. He's not limiting himself to harsh assessments on social media. On Monday, he threatened to reinsert himself into politics and try to oust every member of Congress who votes for the bill. "They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth," Musk said in one post. ADVERTISEMENT In other posts, he branded Republicans "the PORKY PIG PARTY!!" and threatened to create a new political party. Trump has said Musk is actually irritated by the legislation's dramatic rollback of the Biden-era green energy tax breaks for electric vehicles and related technologies. Musk has denied this, but the rollback could hurt Tesla's finances. The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including Australia's weather bomb, the surprising costs of getting one more dog, and BTS are back. (Source: 1News) "Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social media network. Musk became a US citizen in 2002, according to a biography of him by Walter Isaacson. It's unclear if Trump would take the extraordinary step of having the government explore the rare process of removing his citizenship, known as denaturalization. Feud has high stakes for Musk Musk's rocket and satellite company, SpaceX, is also in Trump's crosshairs. ADVERTISEMENT "No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE," Trump said in his post. "BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!" SpaceX has received billions of federal dollars to help to send astronauts into space and other work for NASA, including a contract to send a team from the space agency to the moon next year. But the most immediate fallout of their feud was the tumbling stock in Tesla down 5% in early afternoon trading Tuesday. Tesla stock's performance can have an outsize impact on the stock market index funds in which millions of Americans 401(k)s have invested their retirement savings. The electric vehicle maker is one of the Magnificent Seven, the group of companies that includes Apple and Google parent Alphabet and that account for about a third of the value of the S&P 500. Musk's social media outbursts come at a delicate time for his car company. Tesla is just a week into its test run of its self-driving "robotaxi" service in Austin, Texas. Musk needs that test to succeed if he hopes to make good on his promise to investors that he will be able to quickly offer the service in other cities over the next few months. One possible hurdle to that: federal safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requested information from Tesla last week after videos began circulating on social media of a few of its autonomous cabs in Austin driving erratically, including one heading down an opposing lane. ADVERTISEMENT That followed a NHTSA request for data last month on how the driverless taxis will perform in low-visibility conditions, which itself followed an investigation last year into 2.4 million Teslas equipped with full self-driving software after several accidents, including one that killed a pedestrian. Musk needs robotaxis to take off because Tesla's main business of selling cars is going poorly. New fallout from the spat Musk has acknowledged that boycotts by people angry with his political views have hurt sales, but he has largely blamed a less frightening, temporary factor: People are so excited about Tesla's forthcoming latest version of their Model Y SUV that they decided to hold off on purchases for a few months. But now that new version is available, and sales are still tanking. Figures out last week showed sales in Europe plunged 28% in May over the prior year, the fifth month in a row of big drops. A new batch of sales data for other parts of the world, including the US, is coming out Thursday. The irony is that Musk's social media spat with Trump threatens his businesses from both sides. People won't buy his cars because of the memories of his friendship with Trump, and now that and his other businesses could get hurt because that friendship has soured. "In a bizzarro world, he's alienated both sides," said Dan Ives, a Wedbush Securities financial analyst. "It seems impossible, but he's actually done it."

Musk bets robotaxis will lift Tesla after boycotts, sales plunge
Musk bets robotaxis will lift Tesla after boycotts, sales plunge

1News

time23-06-2025

  • 1News

Musk bets robotaxis will lift Tesla after boycotts, sales plunge

Elon Musk promised in 2019 that driverless Tesla "robotaxis" would be on the road "next year," but it didn't happen. A year later, he promised to deliver them the next year, but that didn't happen either. Despite the empty pledges the promises kept coming. Last year in January, Musk said, "Next year for sure, we'll have over a million robotaxis." Would you settle for 10 or 12? Musk appears to be on the verge of making his robotaxi vision a reality with a test run of a small squad of self-driving cabs in Austin, Texas, that began Sunday (local time). Reaching a million may take a year or more, however, although the billionaire should be able to expand the service this year if the Austin demo is a success. ADVERTISEMENT The stakes couldn't be higher, nor the challenges. While Musk was making those "next year" promises, rival Waymo was busy deploying driverless taxis in Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin and other cities by using a different technology that allowed it to get to market faster. It just completed its 10 millionth paid ride. Boycotts related to Musk's politics have tanked Tesla's sales. Rival electric vehicle makers with newly competitive models have stolen market share. And investors are on edge after a NZ$250 billion stock wipeout when Musk picked a social media fight with a US president overseeing federal car regulators who could make the robotaxi rollout much more difficult. The stock has recovered somewhat after Musk said he regretted some of his remarks. Tesla shareholders have stood by Musk over the years because he's defied the odds by building a successful standalone electric vehicle company — self-driving car promises aside — and making them a lot of money in the process. A decade ago, Tesla shares traded for around NZ$30. The shares closed Friday at NZ$538. Musk seemed jubilant Sunday morning, posting on X, "The @Tesla_AI robotaxi launch begins in Austin this afternoon with customers paying a $4.20 flat fee!" The test is beginning modestly enough. Tesla is remotely monitoring the vehicles and putting a person in the passenger seat in case of trouble. The number of Teslas deployed will also be small — just 10 or 12 vehicles — and will only pick up passengers in a limited, geofenced area. ADVERTISEMENT Musk has vowed that the service will quickly spread to other cities, eventually reaching hundreds of thousands if not a million vehicles next year. Some Musk watchers on Wall Street are sceptical. "How quickly can he expand the fleet?" asks Garrett Nelson, an analyst at CFRA. "We're talking maybe a dozen vehicles initially. It's very small." Morningstar's Seth Goldstein says Musk is being classic Musk: Promising too much, too quickly. "When anyone in Austin can download the app and use a robotaxi, that will be a success, but I don't think that will happen until 2028," he says. "Testing is going to take a while." The logo of Tesla car is pictured at the Paris Auto Show in Paris on October 14, 2024. (Source: Associated Press) Musk's tendency to push up the stock high with a bit of hyperbole is well known among investors. ADVERTISEMENT In 2018, he told Tesla stockholders he had "funding secured" to buy all their shares at a massive premium and take the company private. But he not only lacked a written commitment from financiers, according to federal stock regulators who fined him, he hadn't discussed the loan amount or other details with them. More recently, Musk told CNBC in May that Tesla was experiencing a "major rebound" in demand. A week later an auto trade group in Europe announced sales had plunged by half. Musk has come under fire for allegedly exaggerating the ability of the system used for its cars to drive themselves, starting with the name. Full Self-Driving is a misnomer. The system still requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road because they may need to intervene and take control at any moment. Federal highway safety regulators opened an investigation into FSD last year after several accidents, and the Department of Justice has conducted its own probe, though the status of that is not known. Tesla has also faced lawsuits over the feature, some resulting in settlements, other dismissed. In one case, a judge ruled against the plaintiffs but only because they hadn't proved Musk "knowingly" made false statements. A Tesla factory in California (file image). (Source: Musk says the robotaxis will be running on an improved version of Full Self-Driving and the cabs will be safe. He also says the service will be able to expand rapidly around the country. His secret weapon: Millions of Tesla owners now on the roads. He says an over-the-air software update will soon allow them to turn their cars into driverless cabs and start a side business while stuck at the office for eight hours or on vacation for a week. ADVERTISEMENT "Instead of having your car sit in the parking lot, your car could be earning money," Musk said earlier this year, calling it an Airbnb model for cars. "You will be able to add or subtract your car to the fleet." Musk says Tesla also can move fast to deploy taxis now because of his decision to rely only on cameras for the cars to navigate, unlike Waymo, which has gone a more expensive route by supplementing its cameras with lasers and radar. "Tesla will have, I don't know," Musk mused in an conference call with investors, "99% market share or something ridiculous". Given Waymo's head start and potential competition from Amazon and others, dominating the driverless market to that extent could be a reach. But Dan Ives, a Wedbush Securities analyst and big Musk fan, says this time Musk may actually pull it off because of Tesla's ability to scale up quickly. And even sceptics like Morningstar's Goldstein acknowledge that Musk occasionally does gets things right, and spectacularly so. He upended the car industry by getting people to buy expensive electric vehicles, brought his Starlink satellite internet service to rural areas and, more recently, performed a gee-whiz trick of landing an unmanned SpaceX rocket on a platform back on Earth. ADVERTISEMENT "Maybe his timelines aren't realistic," Goldstein says, "but he can develop futuristic technology products."

Celebrate 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche New Zealand
Celebrate 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche New Zealand

NZ Autocar

time12-06-2025

  • NZ Autocar

Celebrate 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche New Zealand

Porsche New Zealand, in collaboration with The Wrap Shop, invites motorsport enthusiasts to join a special celebration of the 24 Hours of Le Mans this Sunday at Issy's Cafe in Milford. Event Details: • When: Sunday, June 15, 2025 • Where: Issy's Cafe, 110 Kitchener Rd, Milford • What's On: o Complimentary coffees (while supplies last) o Live streaming of the 24 Hours of Le Mans o Exclusive display: Le Mans-inspired Porsche Taycan, featuring a custom livery by The Wrap Shop with vinyl supplied by Arlon Graphics. Experience the thrill of endurance racing as we celebrate Porsche's motorsport heritage. The all-electric Taycan, on display, embodies Porsche's racing DNA, boasting 800V architecture derived directly from the Le Mans-winning 919 Hybrid. The 24 Hours of Le Mans, held in France, runs from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon local time. Kiwis can catch the heart of the action from 3am Sunday to 3am Monday. Attendees at Issy's Cafe will be able to witness the pivotal middle hours of the race. Porsche holds an enviable record at Le Mans, with 19 overall victories since 1951. Iconic models like the 917, 956, and 919 Hybrid have defined endurance racing. Innovations from the track turn up on Porsche's road cars. In 2025, Porsche is targeting its 20th overall win, with the Porsche Penske Motorsport team fielding three Porsche 963 hybrid prototypes and a fourth entered by Proton Competition. Manthey Racing will also represent Porsche in the LMGT3 class with three 911GT3 R entrants. Special Announcement: Porsche has unveiled the new 963 RSP, a road-going version of its Hypercar, as the team prepares for this weekend's race. Kiwi Connection: New Zealanders Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber, both former Porsche factory drivers and Le Mans winners in the 919 Hybrid, are competing this year for non-Porsche teams, continuing the proud Kiwi tradition at Le Mans.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store