On Monday, a Tesla Model S sedan completed a 24-day, 12,183-mile battery-powered journey across the United States as part of an effort to secure Guinness World Record verification for longest vehicle journey ever taken using 100 percent electric power.
The Epic Electric American Road Trip, sponsored by information services company Recargo, was meant to emphasize the possibilities of the nation's current electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Norman Hajjar, Managing Director of Recargo's driver research division, PlugInsights, drove the vehicle.
By the end of the tip, Hajjar had ventured across a 27-state route spanning the four corners of the lower 48 states: Washington, Maine, Florida and California, ending at Recargo's offices in Venice, California. Hajjar took advantage of Tesla's newly built, proprietary string of cross-country "Supercharger" stations in order to make the coast-to-coast electric venture.
"We wanted to illustrate what's possible with the nation's charging infrastructure, and draw attention to needs for further improvement," said Hajjar. "The plausibility of a mass switch to EV usage in America simply can't be separated from the need for a robust fast-charging network. I've traveled over 12,000 miles in under 3.5 weeks. With the proper infrastructure, there's nothing an EV can't do."
Recargo's Epic Electric American Road Trip navigated via PlugShare, the company's mobile app directory of public EV-charging stations. PlugShare helps electric vehicle drivers pinpoint charging locations from a database of over 48,000 public charging stations worldwide. The Epic Electric American Road Trip was be powered by a new version of PlugShare.com for Tesla drivers, uniquely adapted to the Model S's 17" touch-screen monitor.
Earlier in April, The Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla Motors sold 1,493 Model S sedans in Norway in March, breaking the Scandinavian country’s all-time vehicle sales record. This was more than double its typical monthly sales in Norway and well in excess of volumes typical for the top monthly seller in that market, according to registrations reported by Norwegian transportation officials.
Last year, the Tesla Model S received a five-star safety rating in every subcategory from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), making it part of the one percent of all vehicles tested by the federal government to achieve a perfect score. The EV company also introduced a new system that allows battery packs in electric vehicles to be swapped in roughly 90 seconds.
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Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact
Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.
Published Apr 22, 2014 2am EDT / 11pm PDT / 7am BST / 8am CEST