Can you ever get too many Nürburgring lap records before they lose their marketing impact? No!Earlier today, on May 7, 2026, a Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with extensive modifications known as a Manthey Kit set a new Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time of 6:55.533. Driven by Lars Kern, this makes it the fastest four-door electric car on the circuit, breaking its own previous record by 12 seconds, Porsche said.The previous record for the fastest production electric vehicle (EV) around the Nürburgring Nordschleife was the Chinese-made BYD Yangwang U9 Extreme, which recorded a time of 6:59.157 in August 2025. That achievement made it the first production EV to break the 7-minute barrier at the Green Hell. Other top contenders for that acheivement include the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra and the now-record-setting Porsche Taycan Turbo GT.The Tesla Model S Plaid with the optional Track Package achieved a Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time of 7:25.23 in 2023. An earlier, unmodified Model S Plaid recorded a 7:30.90 lap in September 2021. The 7:25.23 run held the production electric vehicle record at the time.As you’ll recall, a Porsche 911 GT3 (992.2) also equipped with Manthey Kit, and driven by Porsche factory pilote Ayhancan Güven, set a lap time of 6:50.863 minutes last week on the 12.9 mile (20.832 km) configuration of the Nürburgring—an improvement over the previous time with the car set at the end of last year in sub-optimal conditions.Porsche Taycan at NurburgringThe key to the 911 GT3’s lower time was also the Manthey kit. Manthey is a full-service maker and engineer of Porsche parts for road and race cars. The team fields the green and yellow— Grello—Porsche 911 in races across Europe, including the Nürburgring 24. Team accomplishments include: six class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, eight world championship titles in the FIA World Endurance Championship, seven overall victories at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, and team and driver championships in the DTM in 2023 and 2025.Now, for the first time, Porsche is introducing such a kit for an electric sports car, elevating the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package to an even higher level of performance. The Manthey Kit will be available to order from June as a retrofit for all examples of the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package.The new Manthey Kit for the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package features extensive aerodynamic, suspension, and powertrain modifications. The Manthey Kit - check out that big ole wing...At the heart of those modifications is what Porsche calls a comprehensive aerodynamic update that increases downforce by more than three times compared to the standard car. At 200 km/h (124 mph), the total downforce has been increased from 95 to 310 kilograms (209 to 683 pounds). And when traveling at top speed, which has increased from 305 to 310 km/h (190 to 193 mph), the Taycan Turbo GT with Manthey Kit produces about 740 kg (1631 pounds) of total downforce. This enables higher cornering speeds and ensures optimum vehicle stability.Porsche says the kit’s key aerodynamic components include a new rear wing with enlarged end plates, an optimized front diffuser, a high-performance rear diffuser with extended fins, and enlarged air deflectors on the underbody. In addition, carbon aerodiscs on the rear wheels improve aerodynamic efficiency. Adjustments to the rear wing and front diffuser allow the driver to choose between a setup with little or a lot of downforce for the circuit.For the first time, the Manthey Kit also includes adjustments to the powertrain: optimizations to the high-voltage battery, control unit, and pulse inverters increase the maximum discharge current while driving from 1,100 to 1,300 amps. This increases the system output, while the maximum torque when using Launch Control rises as well. If the driver activates Attack Mode, an additional power boost of up to 130 kW is available for a short time. The 10-second output therefore temporarily increases to 730 kW (979 hp) instead of 700 kW (939 hp)."The suspension and drive system were also optimised," Porsche said. "At 600 kW (804.6 hp), the power output is 20 kW (27 hp) higher than the standard model. The ten-second power boost known as Attack Mode now delivers up to 130 kW (174 hp)."Porsche Taycan at NurburgringThe record is for an admittedly narrow sliver of automobiledom, “electric executive cars,” a term Porsche did not describe further but which you could guess would include the BYD Yangwang U9 Extreme and Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, along with, maybe, the Lucid Air, Mercedes-Benz EQS, BMW i7, and of course, the Tesla Model S Plaid. Lucid and Tesla were sort of shooting it out at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca way back in 2020. Back then, the Lucid Air luxury electric sedan lowered its own lap record at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by a whopping 10 seconds when it clocked a 1:31.3 during chassis testing. A month before, professional driver Randy Pobst had lapped Laguna in 1:35 in the Tesla. So that would mean the Lucid Air was faster. At least at that moment. These things change rapidly, because after that a Tesla Model S Plaid laid down a 1:30.3.Does it all matter? Or is it executive egos in executive electrics? Who cares? It’s fun!Autoweek SOC EV Newsletter sign up