Photo: evfan91 on forums.tesla.com
Just like the racing horses that are neglected after they get old and are no longer needed, the Tesla Model S that broke the record for a production electric car at this year's Pikes Peak Hill Climb is now reportedly lying abandoned at a Supercharger station a few miles away from the famous course.
This is shocking, surprising, and a little upsetting, all at the same time. You would expect a car with its credentials to at least have its own spot in a garage, if not even a museum. After all, the Model S did correct the previous record by more than a minute, finishing with a time of 11:48. It might be the slowest of all the records based on the different classes, but it's a record run nonetheless.
The car was developed and driven by GO Puck CEO Blake Fuller. Even though the GoPuck Tesla Model S was entered into the EV production class, the car still had a few modifications. Apart from the mandatory roll cage (you tend to want that on a course riddled with 156 barrier-free turns), the Tesla also had a lighter battery pack with the standard failsafe bypassed so it wouldn't constrain the power delivery at any time.
Nobody knows what happened to the car after it successfully won its class in the competition one month ago, but recent reports suggest it might not have made it too far. A thread on the Tesla forum pointed out that a car has been left plugged in at a Colorado Supercharger stool for weeks, and it hasn't moved since. The initial discussion focused on whether that was considerate of the car's owner or not (everybody agreeing it wasn't), but once somebody published a picture of the actual car, all that changed.
For the moment, Blake Fuller has remained silent over why his record-breaking car has been left abandoned in a Colorado carpark, but I think we can all agree on something: considering what it has just accomplished, that car can do whatever the hell it wants. It's a hero.
The car was developed and driven by GO Puck CEO Blake Fuller. Even though the GoPuck Tesla Model S was entered into the EV production class, the car still had a few modifications. Apart from the mandatory roll cage (you tend to want that on a course riddled with 156 barrier-free turns), the Tesla also had a lighter battery pack with the standard failsafe bypassed so it wouldn't constrain the power delivery at any time.
Nobody knows what happened to the car after it successfully won its class in the competition one month ago, but recent reports suggest it might not have made it too far. A thread on the Tesla forum pointed out that a car has been left plugged in at a Colorado Supercharger stool for weeks, and it hasn't moved since. The initial discussion focused on whether that was considerate of the car's owner or not (everybody agreeing it wasn't), but once somebody published a picture of the actual car, all that changed.
For the moment, Blake Fuller has remained silent over why his record-breaking car has been left abandoned in a Colorado carpark, but I think we can all agree on something: considering what it has just accomplished, that car can do whatever the hell it wants. It's a hero.
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