Electric Car Drives 995.5 Miles on a Single Charge and It's Not a Tesla

That's a far cry from the 335 miles that Tesla credits its 100D model to be capable of (it's actually precisely twice as much), but don't think the run was made under normal conditions. The Italians fitted low resistance tires and switched off the air conditioning, which must have been quite an experience during the summer.

They also drove at a steady and not very pacey speed, making breaking the record not exactly the most thrilling prospect for anyone interested. The Italians also said the Autopilot feature came in quite handy, though any expert will tell you that leaving the car to maintain a steady speed isn't the most efficient way to go about it.

But just like they beat the previous record held by somebody from Belgium, their achievement has now been bested by someone in the U.S. We say "bested," but it was more like blown away. Of course, there's a very important catch to it: they didn't use a production vehicle.

You might remember the Phoenix project: a 1997 BMW E39 528i scrapper that found a new life as an electric vehicle. The car was fitted with a DIY 130 kWh battery pack (so one third larger than on the top Tesla model) and an unspecified electric motor, and it was ready to challenge the maximum range of any Tesla.

Now, the battery pack has been extended to over 200 kWh, which is by far the largest installed in a passenger car. The team went to the Auto Club Speedway of California, in Fontana, bent on reaching 1,200 miles and setting a record that would be very hard to beat.

Due to some logistical problems, their time on the track was cut short by six hours, meaning some of the drivers had to pick up the pace. One claimed he did most of his leg at 30 mph (50 km/h), which is well above optimal.

Even so, they came off with a very frustrating 995.5 miles (1,602.1 km). Frustrating because even though it's a great result, it is just 0.5 miles short of reaching 1,000, which must feel very infuriating. However, it's well short of the proposed target, but they claim they have learned a lot from this experience and are ready to try again sometime in the future.

There's a pretty long video that Jehu Garcia shot at during the attempt, so if you're patient, you might catch a glimpse of the BMW trudging along on the track below. Just don't expect any drifts or anything like that.