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Autos

    • Porsche unveils one of the fastest road cars in the world, featuring a 1,000-horsepower 'launch control' button

    The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package has no back seats to save weight. (Porsche via CNN Newsource) The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package has no back seats to save weight. (Porsche via CNN Newsource)
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    Porsche today introduced the most powerful production, or mass-produced, car it has ever made. The electric 1,093-horsepower Taycan Turbo GT, coming to market this summer, has already set two race track speed record for an electric car. It even beat one set by a Tesla Model S by a gigantic 18 seconds.'

    High horsepower numbers and eye-popping acceleration are more common among electric cars than gasoline-powered ones, especially since EVs can have multiple motors. Performance numbers figures like these serve little practical value, of course. It would be impossible to approach this car's potential other than at a track and few would have the driving skills to do it.

    This is about giving customers the ability to brag about what their car can, theoretically, do and, for Porsche, putting aside concerns about whether electric cars, with their heavy batteries and near silent operation, can be exciting as regulatory pressure mounts to sell more EVs.

    The Taycan Turbo GT set a world record lap time on Germany's famous Nürburgring Nordschleife, a twisty, challenging track where automakers frequently test their most competitive sports cars. The Nürburgring requires cars that are not only very fast and accelerate quickly but also corner well. Setting a record there is something sports car manufacturers brag about; Porsche certainly will.

    This Turbo GT, a new version of the electric Porsche Taycan, features two motors. Together they can produce more than 1,000 horsepower. This kind of high-horsepower EV experience won't come cheaply, though. The Porsche will cost around US$230,000.

    Most of the time, the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT has a maximum power output of 777 horsepower which, by any normal standards, is a lot. However, it has a "launch control" button for maximum acceleration from a stop. When pressed, power output can be increased briefly, reaching a maximum of 1,093 horsepower for a zero to sixty time of as little as 2.1 seconds.

    How powerful is powerful? By contrast, a standard gas-powered Porsche 911 Carrerra produces 379 horsepower – and is still definitely fast. A standard Toyota Prius, not especially fast, can put out 196 horsepower.

    The new Porsche also has a special "Attack mode" that can be enabled, pushing power up to 937 horsepower but also making the car's suspension firmer for better cornering. "Attack mode" will only last for ten seconds at a time, though.

    These kinds of power levels can't be maintained long, a Porsche spokesperson said, because the necessary cooling for the motors and batteries, plus just the actual power output itself, would drain the batteries too quickly.

    The previous record holder on the Nürburgring Nordschleife was the Tesla Model S Plaid Track Package. (A US$2.2 million Rimac Nevera electric supercar, which is not considered a regular production car, was two-tenths of a second faster than the Porsche.) The lap time of the Taycan makes the Turbo GT the fastest four-door car, electric or not, on that track.

    Porsche's EV

    Taycan is a Turkish word loosely translated as "spirit of a colt." The Taycan is usually a four-seat, four-door car and was Porsche's first fully electric car when it was released in 2019. (The German sports car company was founded 1931 and is today owned by part of Volkswagen Group.)

    The Taycan Turbo GT will come in two versions. One, the standard Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, will be fast but reasonably comfortable for street driving. It will have four seats, as most Porsche Taycan models do.

    The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package, though, will dispense with backseats and other comfort items to save weight. Even things like the standard clock in the dashboard are left off. This more aggressive, track-oriented version of the car won't cost any more though, thanks of the money saved on things like seats and a clock.

    Despite the Turbo in the title, neither of these cars has actual turbochargers, of course, since electric cars don't use turbochargers which push air into internal combustion engines. In this car, the name just denotes that they are powerful – and fast.

    Porsche has said that the next generation of its Boxster and Cayman 2-door sports cars will be electric But Porsche executives have said that its iconic 911 sports car will be the last Porsche model to ever go all electric.

    CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

    Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

    An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    Canada

    • Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    • In the middle of the small crowd — near the tents, the lineup of kids awaiting face painting, the snack table — stood a jubilant Chiara Padovani. 'When I say 'tenant, you say 'power,'' she commanded to several dozen tenants, who chanted back with gusto. What looked like a summer block party in front of two north-end Toronto apartment buildings last month was a celebration of what renters who withheld payments for months called a 'huge victory.'

    • For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.

    • Five bison are dead at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton following an early Thursday morning collision.

    • The head of a committee monitoring the government's response to the inquiry into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass killing says she's pleased with progress made so far.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    • Lawyers representing the producers of 'Russians at War' say they may pursue legal action against Ontario's public broadcaster for pulling support for the controversial documentary amid outcry from the Ukrainian community and some Canadian politicians.

    • Viewers of Jeopardy got a chance to test their knowledge of trivia about B.C.'s biggest city Wednesday night.

    Business

    Lifestyle

    • They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    Sports

    • Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he's been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season's playoffs.

    • Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette returned to the 10-day injured list Thursday due to a right middle finger fracture.

    Autos

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.

    • The plant was expected to produce batteries for a million electric vehicles a year. Once up and running, it was supposed to create hundreds of permanent jobs in a small southeastern Ontario municipality. But two years later, spending on the construction of the Umicore plant has been delayed in what the company calls a "significant worsening of the EV market context."

    Local Spotlight

    They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

    Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

    The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

    It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

    A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

    David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

    Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

    • Getting a bed at one of British Columbia's drug detoxification facilities is like winning the lottery, the vice-president on the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council says.

    • B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.

    • For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • In the middle of the small crowd — near the tents, the lineup of kids awaiting face painting, the snack table — stood a jubilant Chiara Padovani. 'When I say 'tenant, you say 'power,'' she commanded to several dozen tenants, who chanted back with gusto. What looked like a summer block party in front of two north-end Toronto apartment buildings last month was a celebration of what renters who withheld payments for months called a 'huge victory.'

    • Injury prevention experts are urging Calgarians to ride carefully as e-scooter crashes land hundreds of people in the hospital.

    • WEATHER

      WEATHER

      Friday will be cool and wet with intermittent showers likely through most of the day.

    • Defence counsel for accused murderer John-Christopher Arrizza argues he was in an “altered state of mind†due to days of drug and alcohol use, sleep deprivation and not eating, when he fatally stabbed a man at a Banff nightclub in 2022.

    • BREAKING NEWS

      BREAKING NEWS

      A man has been taken to hospital in life-threatening condition following a stabbing incident that happened on Baseline Road in the early hours of Friday morning, according to the Ottawa Paramedic Service.

    • Police say a man, 30, who was taken to hospital in critical condition after being shot Thursday night has died.

    • Higher than average temperatures are in the forecast for Ottawa this Friday.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    • The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

    • Premier François Legault's approval rating continued to rise this summer, according to the Angus Reid Institute. After reaching a low at the end of 2023, his support rose by three percentage points over the summer to 39 per cent.

    • A mother and daughter say they woke up to flames encroaching on their third-floor apartment near Commonwealth Stadium early Friday morning.

    • WEATHER

      WEATHER

      The big weather story today won't really be rain, it'll be the cooler and breezier conditions.

    • Five bison are dead at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton following an early Thursday morning collision.

    • Gas prices increased in all three Maritime provinces for the first time in more than a month.

    • A Nova Scotia woman has applied for a medically assisted death, saying after years of battling to receive out-of-country surgery for an illness that causes "indescribable" pain, she struggles to maintain the will to live.

    • A section of Herring Cove Road in the Spryfield area of Halifax is closed to traffic in both directions following a single-vehicle collision Friday morning.

    • A Winnipeg pet rescue is putting out a warning to dog owners across the city about a possible parvovirus in the province.

    • Shamattawa RCMP are searching for a missing six-year-old boy who hasn’t been seen since Wednesday morning.

    • The Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) has made an arrest following a fire that claimed the lives of two people.

    • Driving into the tunnels of Nutrien's Rocanville mine, the largest potash mine in the world by production volume, feels like driving down a lonely highway in the middle of the night.

    • Regina Fire crews were sent to a duplex fire on Dewdney Avenue early Friday morning.

    • A social media post of purple apples “growing†in Saskatchewan has sparked a lot of attention. However, garden experts say there's no such thing.

    • Amber and Adam Brueckner have a pool-shaped hole in their backyard – and their wallets.

    • The missing family that was last seen in Kitchener, Ont. on Sept. 1 has been found safe, according to police.

    • Police are trying to identify a man who approached a woman and child in Wellesley.

    • A gym teacher at a private Christian school in Saskatoon has been charged. Terra MacEwan, 44, is charged with assault with a weapon. A Saskatoon mother who spoke with CTV News says her autistic son was MacEwan's victim.

    • A case involving stolen funds from a Saskatchewan business being used to purchase cryptocurrency will be heading back to the courts, thanks to a new decision by Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal.

    • The past principal of a private Christian school in Saskatoon is facing three new criminal charges.

    • BREAKING

      BREAKING

      Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

    • As northern Ontario gets ready to welcome autumn this weekend, it’s still feeling a lot like summer as provincial forest fire crews continue to battle blazes.

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • Police say just before 7:00 p.m. four teens entered a business in the 1000 block of Adelaide Street North.

    • Police were focusing their attention on the northeast corner of Richmond and Horton, with members of the emergency response unit taking up positions at the scene.

    • An Elgin County community is expected to double in size as plans for multiple residential developments loom. The Township of Southwold expects shovels in the ground as early as 2025.

    • Two men from Barrie have been charged after a deadly shooting at a park in Keswick on Wednesday.

    • A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

    • Ontario Provincial Police executed a search warrant in Walkerton.

    • On Thursday, just after 9:30 a.m., a man was found and taken to police headquarters, where he was released with conditions and a future court date.

    • Standing up, speaking out, and showing solidarity — survivors and supporters gathered in the core to take back the night in Windsor. The city is just one of a growing list of communities that have declared intimate partner violence (IPV) an epidemic.

    • The Windsor Police Service (WPS) has seized over $56,000 in drugs and have arrested one suspect.

    • In a rare move, the Greater Victoria School District Board of Education has been slapped with a ministerial order from the province requiring it to update a student safety plan – drawing concern around political posturing leading up to an election.

    • The Union of B.C. Municipalities is asking the provincial government to make transit free for teenagers.

    • To appreciate why Mimi Vandermolen is so pleased to notice one particular vehicle she’s walking past, you need to know that seeing this many cars in one place would have been unimaginable when she was growing-up in the post-war Netherlands.

    • A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.

    • The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.

    • Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.

    • A Vulcan, Alta., man has been charged with a Lethbridge woman's murder after her body was found in the Oyen area.

    • A Lethbridge couple got a good reminder as to why you should keep your vehicle doors locked at all times.

    • Lethbridge residents who live near the police range can expect to hear plenty of shots fired Wednesday and Thursday.

    • A new community health profile in the Algoma District shows the area is significantly below provincial averages in a number of health metrics.

    • North Bay Police Service says one person has died following an industrial accident at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Rail Yard on Tuesday.

    • Three northern Ontario residents are charged with drug trafficking after the vehicle they were in got stuck along a bush road off Highway 17 on Monday.

    N.L.

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