Are you ready for another electric road trip? The Recargo sponsored Epic Electric American Road Trip, starts today. It will travel the nation’s four corners without a drop of gasoline, pausing to charge at Tesla’s Superchargers.
Tesla continues its electric road trips
The Epic Electric American Road Trip will last 18-days and cover 12,000 miles on electricity alone in Tesla Motors’ electric vehicle (EV), the Model S. It is sponsored by Recargo Inc, maker of charging station locator PlugShare and research group PlugInsight. This trip breaks another record as the longest vehicle trip ever taken using 100% electric energy. It will be acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records after it reaches its destination.
Norman Hajjar, Managing Director of Recargo’s driver research division, PlugInsights, will attempt the tour by himself in a stock Tesla Model S sedan, using Recargo’s PlugShare navigation app. The 27-state route will go from West to East, and cover the North-South route along the East Coast before making its way back to the Recargo offices in Venice, California.
According to Norman: “We also want to underscore the urgent need for even more public ‘fast chargers’. We’ve conducted studies of thousands of EV drivers, and it’s clear they want to be able to fuel with the same quick ‘pit-stop practicality’ that gas car drivers enjoy at service stations. Give them that, and we believe the category will truly blossom.”
Brian Kariger, CEO of Recargo added: “We’re attempting this record-breaking journey to illustrate a historic point: With a robust network of fast charging locations, you can drive an electric car wherever you want without using a drop of gasoline. Daily commutes and cross-country trips alike are now made better by driving electric.”
How to use a supercharger to go the distance
The trip will spread charging at Tesla’s Supercharger stations, which should give the Model S a more than 250-mile range in under 30 minutes. This will serve to show that EVs can not only go the distance, but be practical. It is also interesting to note that this is happening before the company builds its battery swapping stations. The swap of batteries should make the stops even faster than would a stop to fill a sedan with gasoline, as we reported last year at the official unveiling of the feature.
In the meantime, you can follow the trip via live updates from the road on roadtrip.plugshare.com, or check back with us for updates. The speed and energy usage will be recorded and you will be able to interact with the driver using the @plugshare live Twitter feed and the hashtag #EpicEVTrip.
Did you really think you would actually spend a week without hearing some Tesla Motors news? Chances are slim to none. No matter your thoughts on Tesla, it is one company that knows how to keep the momentum going, and doing a 12,000 electric drive with a Model S is a great way to make a new Guinness record.
