Image: The Kilowatts
The electric vehicle (EV) enthusiasts at The Kilowatts (@klwtts) have set a new cross-country EV Cannonball record in a 2021 Tesla Model S, beating the old one by over two hours.
On Friday, The Kilowatts announced on Twitter that they had actually managed to beat the previous EV Cannonball record twice, first in their 42 hours and 52 minutes run from Los Angeles, CA, to New York City, NY, but then topping that on their 42 hours and 17 minutes return trip from New York to the Portofino Inn in Los Angeles.
Last week we set the EV Cannonball record TWICE!
First, starting just after 1:00am on Sunday, we drove from LA to NY in 42:52. Then a couple days later at 11:00am we left the Red Ball Garage and drove all the way to the Portifino Inn in just 42:17 establishing the new EV record!— The Kilowatts 🚗⚡️ (@klwtts) October 29, 2021
The record was set in a rented 2021 Model S Long Range, which has a range of 405 miles (652 km).
Steering the record-breaking trip was The Kilowatts host Ryan Levenson, joined by his cousin Will Wood. The previous EV Cannonball record, at 44 hours and 25 minutes, was held by a Porsche Taycan 4S.
Levenson and Wood would have actually finished sooner, had it not been for nearly one hour of heavy traffic in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Image: The Kilowatts
Levenson thoroughly documented both runs, including total distance traveled, total energy used, average energy usage per mile, and the total cost for Supercharging. The duo exclusively stopped at 250 kW V3 Superchargers along the way, only charging to 50% capacity at each spot to minimize charging downtime.
The only difference between the first run and the record-shattering second one was the drivers, the route taken, the days, and slightly over-pressurizing the tires to 47 psi.
The Kilowatts’ impressive cross-country runs demonstrate that electric cars are more than capable of comfortably making long road trips.
The Model S Long Range is built to maximize range, but it’s also no slouch when it comes to speed and acceleration. Earlier this year, the Model S Plaid hit a 10.87 second quarter mile at a drag strip in Texas.
Tesla recently hiked the price of the base Model S by $5,000 USD, bringing it up to $94,990 USD. Estimated delivery dates for the all-electric sedan have slipped well into the second quarter of 2022.
Catch a time-lapse of The Kilowatts’ record-setting 42 hours and 17 minutes run in the video below:
