Tesla Owners Club Sets Record for Longest Distance Driven on a Single Charge
Tesla Owners Club Italia set out to prove that an electric car can go over 1,000 km, or over 621 miles, on a single charge. The club went on to establish a new record of 670 miles with a Tesla Model S, using the equivalent of just 3.78 gallons of gas in the process.
An article from Tesla Owners Italy announced their feat — running 1,078 km or a fraction under 670 miles using a Tesla Model S 100D, with just one battery charge. The non-profit pulled off this achievement on Friday, Aug. 4, after 29 hours.
The Tesla CEO himself took to social media to congratulate the group, noting how the new record officially establishes that the Tesla Model S is the first production electric car to reach that milestone.
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"Officially verified as the first production electric car to exceed 1000km on a single charge! Congratulations Tesla Owners Italia!!" Elon Musk stated in his Twitter post on Saturday, Aug. 5.
To beat the previous world record, held in Belgium with another Tesla Model S P100D, the Italian team made some adjustments to their driving style. To go past the 901.2-kilometer mark, the driver took the Model S through the smooth suburban roads of Salerno, in Southern Italy, at a controlled speed of 40 km per hour, or less than 25 miles an hour.
The air-conditioning was also kept off, and the car was made sure to have its standard low rolling resistance tires. In the time it took to get the record, five members of the club took turns to drive the car.
Tesla Owners Club Italia President Luca Del Bo made note of how little energy the drive took. "To complete the 1078 km record distance, we used 98.4 kW/h of electricity, which are equivalent to 8 liters of gas- 3,78 gallons," he explained, pointing out how efficient electric engines have become today when compared to combustion engines.
