While we obviously can’t rule out this being a genuine accident, the fact that all those cameras were there, plus this guy having a history with making a show out of destroying his cars, all just screams “staged” to us, which it probably was.
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The video's title translates directly into “Mixed Pedals,” which has been known to happen and can be especially dangerous when it comes to high-powered electric vehicles like the Porsche Taycan. However, in those cases, the car is usually seen speeding off at an alarming rate because people tend to step pretty hard on what they believe is the brake.

In November of last year, we saw someone crash their Taycan in a driveway, and you can re-watch that debacle right here. As you can see, the car really took off thanks to that instant torque, and pedal misapplication was the likeliest culprit, even though it’s difficult to say for certain.

Well, guess who lit his car on fire a month prior to that Taycan crash? None other than this fella, Mikhail Litvin. He was allegedly so dissatisfied with reoccurring issues on his Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+ 4-door that he decided to drive it out to a field, light it on fire and upload the carnage to YouTube.

What are the odds that someone with more than 6 million followers will accidentally crash a Porsche Taycan Turbo S inside a Porsche dealership while all the cameras are rolling – and from multiple angles, mind you.

However, even if this was staged, it raises a variety of questions. Did he actually get permission from Porsche to do this? We feel like that would be a tough sell on his part, no matter how many million views he’s likely to get on the clip (it’s up to nearly 2.3 million after only a few hours).

Without the dealership’s consent, he would have had to make sure that he can execute the stunt safely without hitting any bystanders. It’s also “convenient” that he didn’t crash into any parked cars, as the damage to the fully electric sedan doesn’t seem all that bad. It’s also interesting that the driver side airbag didn’t go off.

Porsche’s Taycan Cross Turismo is completing its last development drives, an extensive testing program that has taken the newest Taycan to the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, the Hockenheim Grand Prix circuit, proving grounds and off the beaten path in the south of France, the Pyrenees, and an Africa-inspired off road track at the company’s Weissach Development Center. All told the car performed 620,352 testing miles, or 25 laps around the world measured at the equator.


The Cross Turismo has all-wheel drive and an adjustable ride height via the air suspension. The Cross Turismo’s extended roofline is obviously the biggest change compared to the sedan. Porsche says every detail was sweated to make the wagon interior as practical as possible, with engineers spending 650 hours on design, electronic and coordination on mocking up an accurate physical representation of the interior, and 1,500 workshop hours to complete it.

“When developing the Cross Turismo, we were of course able to build on our experience with the Taycan sports sedan. The biggest challenge was combining the requirements of sportiness with off-road capabilities,” said Vice President Model Line, Stefan Weckbach: “The Cross Turismo has to be capable of high performance on the race track and must also be able to handle scree, mud and gravel.” The latter conditions were simulated on the “Endurance Testing Ground” at the Weissach Development Center. “The result is impressive. However, the Cross Turismo is not a hardcore off-road vehicle, but specializes in unpaved and dirt roads. It’s like a type of Swiss army knife on up to 21-inch wheels.”





The company said its EVs have to go through the same rigorous testing program as its combustion-engine powered sports cars, including Porsche-esque performance on the road and on the track and everyday usability regardless of climate. EVs add extra levels of complexity such as charging the battery and controlling powertrain temperatures. Porsche’s other development goals include repeated acceleration runs at full throttle and a range suitable for everyday use.

Porsche said it also did “extensive work” in the lab and on test benches. For example the Cross Turismo spent about 325 hours in the wind tunnel.

The Taycan sedan was launched late in 2019 and more than 20,000 have been sold. The new Cross Turismo is aimed at Taycan customers who want a bit more versatility.

The Taycan Cross Turismo launches this summer. Porsche sources in Germany told Autoweek we can expect the Cross Turismo lineup to mirror the sedan’s.