Tesla Fan Breaks World Record For Longest Distance Traveled On A Single Charge

One of the biggest obstacles preventing electric cars from seeing widespread adoption is the short range of a single charge. Many consumers say this is one of the primary reasons they wouldn’t purchase one for their daily use, and electric carmakers are always working on increasing the potential of their range between charges.

Back in May 2012, Tesla set the world record for distance traveled in an electric car on a single charge, with an impressive 423.5 mile journey. However, this record has just been broken by two Tesla owners in a Model S P85D, which they managed to drive 452.8 miles across Denmark on a single charge.

Although the car has an EPA-certified rating of 253 miles per charge, the two Tesla owners say they drove 452.8 miles at a speed of 24.2 miles per hour. The two men took turns driving in shifts of several hours with the total drive time ending up being 18 hours and 40 minutes. Both the start and end point was Rodekro, Denmark.

Bjorn Nyland and his friend embarked on the excruciatingly slow drive at near zero elevation to pull off the feat. Nyland, a programmer at the University of Oslo, who lovingly calls his two-year-old Tesla “The Millennium Falcon,” has no financial relationship with Tesla. He seemingly just really loves his car and wanted to take its distance abilities to the limit. And he has apparently achieved this, having set a new world record in the process.

Nyland posted a video with the drive’s “highlights” on YouTube, but as you might expect, it’s not exactly a thrilling ride. The most exciting moment happened after the pair took a wrong turn, forcing them to drive over a stretch of gravel road. Nyland is clearly a Tesla enthusiast, with several related videos on his channel, including one where he drives at a constant speed of 125 mph over a 39-mile stretch of the German autobahn.

Nyland’s video of the highlights of the record-breaking journey can be seen here:

Although driving at less than 25 miles per hour isn’t a realistic prospect for commuters, Nyland’s drive does display an impressive range for Tesla all the same. As battery technology improves and Tesla continues to enhance its car designs, perhaps a 500 mile range won’t be out of the question at some point in the near future, even at a faster speed. When you combine that potential with falling prices as electric cars become more commonplace, it starts to seem possible they could one day turn into the preferred choice for a large percentage of consumers.