On the eve of the official announcement of the new generation Taycan, Porsche tested the pre-series electric car on the legendary German track Nürburgring. The new Porsche Taycan lapped the 20km Nordschleife (North Loop) of the Nürburgring 26 seconds faster than the current one, ahead of the Tesla Model S Plaid by as much as 18 seconds.

The new model is easily ahead of today’s Taycan. The pre-production model driven by Lars Kern lapped the Nürburgring in 7:07:55. That’s 26 seconds faster than his last record run, set in 2022 by the Porsche Taycan S Sport.

It’s also 18 seconds faster than the Tesla Model S Plaid’s time of 7:25:31 shown in June. Porsche and Tesla have been competing for victory since 2019.

Porsche’s Taycan set the record in 2019, and Tesla tested early versions of the Model S Plaid shortly after. Although Plaid was two years late, the high-performance model broke the 2021 record with a lap of 7:35:579. A year later, Porsche reclaimed the title of fastest production four-door electric car, and in June Tesla once again set the best time with a new track package. In general, among electric cars, the best time of the Rimac Nevera hypercar is 7:05:298.

The new Taycan is expected to be the most powerful version of the electric car from Porsche. The current version of the Taycan Turbo S develops 750 hp. and accelerates to 100 km/h in 2.6 seconds. The new GT version is expected to be around 1,000 hp, which puts it on par with the Tesla Model S Plaid (1,020 hp), reports Electrek.

The automaker said an on-board video of the full circle will be released in mid-March. Apparently, at this time, Porsche will officially present a new model.