2020 Porsche Taycan Goes Head-to-Head with Star Wars TIE Fighter in Newest Ad

Porsche has released a new ad for its electric Taycan sedan that makes an unexpected crossover into sci-fi territory by referencing a scene from the upcoming Star Wars film, The Rise of Skywalker.

In the ad, a Taycan and a TIE Fighter like the one piloted by Kylo Ren (formerly Ben Solo) in the film's original teaser speed through a desert environment, doing as the ad's title suggests: Kicking up dust. They appear to be rushing headlong toward one another, but they never share a frame, so it appears to be more a cinematic recreation on Porsche's part rather than an intergalactic game of Chicken.

Porsche's choice to align the Taycan with the Star Wars franchise invites comparison with Tesla. For years, the latter company has been referencing the 1987 sci-fi parody film Spaceballs with its "Ludicrous" acceleration mode, which makes high-performance versions of the Tesla Model S one of the world's quickest vehicles from a standstill...but not quite as quick as the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, as a recent drag race test suggests.

Last month, Tesla sent modified versions of the Model S (speculated to be prototypes for an upcoming high-performance "Plaid" variant, another Spaceballs reference) around the famous Green Hell, posting lap times that third parties allege to be quicker than the Taycan, though photos show that these cars have widened tracks and more extreme aerodynamic elements that make them incomparable to current street cars.

Like the argument over what sci-fi series is best, the debate over who makes the best electric cars will rage on. May the best machine win.