Porsche, EV scene and Nürburgring buzz

Porsche is back at the center of EV track talk — and this time there’s an actual result behind the noise. On May 7, Porsche said a Taycan Turbo GT with the Weissach Package and a new Manthey Kit ran the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6:55.533, with factory driver Lars Kern at the wheel. That puts Porsche back on top of the electric executive-car leaderboard and gives the company something concrete to point to while the broader EV conversation keeps drifting into subsidies, price wars, and wild horsepower rumors. ### What actually happened at the Nürburgring? The news is simple: Porsche launched its first Manthey performance kit for an EV, fitted it to the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package, and immediately used it to set a new Nordschleife record. The kit goes on sale in June as a retrofit for existing cars, which is important because this wasn’t framed as a one-off prototype stunt. Porsche wants the lap to sell hardware. (newsroom.porsche.com) ### Why does the Manthey Kit matter? Manthey is Porsche’s track-specialist partner — the people behind a lot of the company’s most serious circuit packages for GT cars. On the Taycan, the changes are not just cosmetic. Porsche says the package includes revisions to aerodynamics, wheels and tires, chassis setup, and software tuning for power delivery. Basically, this is Porsche importing its gas-car track-playbook into the EV era. (newsroom.porsche.com) ### Was Porsche reclaiming something? Yes. Part of the buzz here is that Porsche wasn’t just setting a fresh benchmark in a vacuum — it was taking the spotlight back. Coverage around the new lap explicitly framed it as Porsche reclaiming the EV record from newer challengers, including Chinese performance EVs that have turned the Nürburgring into a marketing battlefield. That rivalry is why this lap spread so fast online. It wasn’t only about one fast sedan. (newsroom.porsche.com) It was about who gets to define “serious” EV performance. ### Where do Zeekr and BYD fit in? They fit as the pressure behind the whole conversation. BYD’s Yangwang sub-brand has already been tied to ultra-high-power EV halo cars and Nürburgring chatter, while Zeekr is now being linked to a revived FR performance push aimed squarely at Porsche, with reports talking about 1,200-hp EVs. That number appears to be attached to Zeekr-related performance plans — not to Porsche’s Taycan record car. Social posts often mash these threads together, which is how a clean Porsche lap story turns into a broader “who wins the EV arms race?” debate. (autoblog.com) ### So is Porsche building a 1,200-hp Nürburgring monster? Not from what’s actually on the record here. Porsche’s official material around the new lap talks about the Taycan Turbo GT, the Manthey retrofit, and software optimization — not some new 1,200-hp headline figure. The biggest official brag attached to the Taycan line is that the Turbo GT is Porsche’s most powerful series-production model so far. The 1,200-hp talk seems to belong to rumor land and rival-brand chatter, not this Nürburgring run. (autoblog.com) ### Why does the online argument keep veering into subsidies? Because EV status symbols now sit inside a much uglier commercial fight. A Nürburgring lap used to be mostly enthusiast bait. Now it also feeds arguments about who can sell performance EVs profitably, which brands rely on policy support, and whether Chinese manufacturers are forcing legacy brands into a speed-and-price squeeze. The lap is real, but the reaction around it is about much more than lap time. (newsroom.porsche.com) ### What’s the bottom line? Porsche gave the internet a real achievement to talk about — a verified 6:55.533 Taycan lap with a sellable track kit. But the reason the story feels bigger is that EV performance is no longer a niche brag. It’s becoming a proxy war over engineering credibility, brand prestige, and who gets to lead the next phase of the premium car market. (newsroom.porsche.com) (autoblog.com)