Two Tesla Model S vehicles completed a cross country rally Sunday morning, setting a record speed time in the process. The cars drove from Los Angeles, California to New York City in just 76.5 hours.
The vehicles relied solely on Supercharger stations for recharging throughout the trip. The two Tesla Model S sedans not only managed the overall trip in a record time, but also clocked in a record lowest charging time for an electric vehicle making the cross-country trip which is currently being evaluated as a Guinness World Record.
Superchargers are free to use for all Tesla Model S owners and are currently found in 85 different locations worldwide with plans for many more over the coming years. The Superchargers are not only free, but much faster than conventional charging and will give a Tesla Model S half a charge in about 20 minutes.
The completion of Sunday’s race may have marked an electric vehicle speed record, but the record for completion of the first cross-country drive using only Superchargers belongs to father-daughter team John and Jill Glenney. They made the trip last week as the final Superchargers on the route became operational.
Over the Tesla team’s three day trek to set the record, their vehicles managed blizzards, sandstorms, freezing temperatures and torrential rains on their way from sunny California to what ended up being a very mild Sunday morning in New York City. It took a team of 15 drivers to complete the epic journey with many members of the team hardly sleeping throughout the trip.
The final leg of the drive from Newark, Delaware to New York City was completed by two Tesla employees, Sara Eslinger and Jalpan Patel, with Tesla CTO JT Straubel along for the ride. The entire team was greeted at the finish line by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The team drove a total of 3464.5 miles and used 1,197.8 kWh of energy to complete the trip.
Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.
