Aussie Tesla breaks electric car distance world record

By Derek Fung on 28 October 2009

A Tesla Roadster run in this year's Global Green Challenge between Darwin and Adelaide has smashed the record for the longest distance travelled by an electric car on a full charge, but it had to be driven at an excruciatingly slow pace.

No skullduggery here.
(Credit: Internode)

The left-hand drive Tesla Roadster driven by Simon Hackett, managing director of ISP Internode, and Emilis Prelgauskas managed 501km on a single charge. For the record run, they travelled two-up, driving south from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory before crossing a roadside marker 183km north of Coober Pedy in South Australia.

To achieve this record, Simon and Emilis switched the air-conditioning off, left the windows and canvas roof up, and drove at a very sedate 55km/h for over nine hours, stopping every two hours to switch drivers. Trust us, with the next corner some 30 kays away and each kilometre melting into the next, the legal limit of 130km/h is itself excruciatingly slow, even with the tunes cranked up to 11 and the air-con set to Arctic.

The previous world record of 390km was held by another Tesla Roadster. That car was driven by a Tesla employee in the Rallye Monte Carlo d'Energies Alternatives in April this year. However, according to reports, that Roadster ran at more normal speeds. During its run, it achieved an average of 90km/h on motorways, 60km/h on trunk roads and 30km/h in mountainous regions, for an overall average 45km/h.

In contrast, the highway between Alice Springs and Coober Pedy is both straight and flat. The Global Green Challenge that's currently being run is an evolution of the World Solar Challenge, which now incorporates non-solar cars, including electric cars, the Ford Fiesta Econetic and the gas guzzling HSV Maloo R8.

Simon Hackett (left) and Emilis Prelgauskas (right) mark the record with a rough and ready sign.
(Credit: Internode)

Topics: tesla, roadster, global green challenge, world record, electric car, car, record, electric, simon, challenge

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Comments (5)

  • samuelleung83 commented on 02/11/2009 14:16 Report abuse

    And it makes you wonder why the Tesla isn't road legal in Australia! Such a shame Australia has to always be one step behind.

  • Mark commented on 31/10/2009 11:36 Report abuse

    The car could have gone futher if it didnt have to carry their beer bellies as well

  • Ryan commented on 29/10/2009 01:50 Report abuse

    Very very nice!
    Congratulations guys!

    Ryan
    -eZee.se

  • HiPER/R commented on 29/10/2009 01:39 Report abuse

    To vaestanfors:

    Adelaide University is currently developing just this type of vehicle - were it not for the current financial situation, and consequent lack of funding, this bike would be on the road today. See http://www.hiper-r.com/ for some details. This project continues from the University's 2007 BioBike, which won a category of the Global Green Challenge, and is planned to compete at the TTXGP.

  • vaestanfors commented on 28/10/2009 23:22 Report abuse

    that road is a very long road even at 130km/h. 501km on a single charge is a damn good result no matter what speed they did. If that technology goes into a motorbike we could have an electric bike that gets that mileage at much higher speeds which would make it ideal for touring across the country.

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