There’s a group of people who love the challenge of squeezing every last mile-per-gallon from their car’s gas tank. Electric cars have made the competition even more interesting by putting the hypermilers into a an environment with less places to refill their charge and more baggage to weigh them down. Two individuals had set out to take a Tesla Model 3 to its limits and managed to commute over 600 miles on a single charge.
Sean Mitchell, the president of the Denver Tesla Club, hit the road with fellow Tesla owner Erik Strait, a popular YouTuber. Together, they shared the desire to set the record for longest range in a Model 3 to date. After using up about 88 percent of the car’s battery, the distance traveled had already surpassed 500 miles on the single charge. It was projected that if the car maintained the current efficiency of 111 watt-hours per mile, the final mileage of the trip would be around 676 miles.
After 32 hours and 606.2 miles, the unofficial record had been set, and although this wasn’t the number that was hoped for, it is still an extraordinary example that nearly doubled the 310 mile range rating given to the Model 3 by the EPA. The duo noted that they maintained an average speed of between 20 and 30 miles per hour, which allowed them to take advantage of city driving speeds where, unlike most gasoline-powered cars, the Model 3 shines in efficiency. Additionally, creature comforts like HVAC and other onboard power suckers were not used to help maximize the vehicle’s overall range. Though efficient, Mitchell mentioned that temperature climbed to a staggering 108 degrees Fahrenheit in the cabin; something which most people would sacrifice a few miles to remedy.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. After placing the vehicle on a supercharger overnight, Mitchell confirmed that the Model 3 would no longer accept a charge and had to have it towed to a Tesla Service Center.
The range observed by the Model 3 is more than impressive, especially considering that its big brother, the Model S P100D, was only able to achieve 63 additional miles during its record-setting hypermiling run with its larger battery pack. Most of the Model 3 reservation holders likely won’t see efficiency numbers close to what Mitchell and Strait achieved, but just knowing that the duo was able to squeeze such fantastic numbers from their trial should be more than reassuring, even if they didn’t follow the best charging etiquette to extend the life of the car’s batteries. Thankfully, hypermiling isn’t a sport, because as seen in the eight hour long video above, it’s not as entertaining as Formula E.