Naysayers beware: roadtripping in an electric car is not only possible, but practical.
MOTOR TREND’S JESSI LANG AND FRANK MARKUS drive the new Tesla Model S sedan from LA to Las Vegas in one charge (and still have juice to cruise the strip.)
Lang and Markus have a fun adventure testing the limits of an electric car, including sweating their asses off unnecessarily babying the battery. What their sweat-stained seat-time shows is that electric vehicles have crossed a threshold into the realm of long-distance travel.
It’s not the first time that an electric car has eaten up 200 miles of pavement at a stretch. What is new, however is that the Model S isn’t some one-off MIT science project, it’s a mass-production, sub-$50,000, 5-seat sedan. Factor in an 8-year, unlimited mileage battery warranty on the Signature trim package, and you’ve got a killer roadtrip car.
Before you get out your atlas and black out everything beyond the Model S’s 250-mile range, it’s worth checking out Tesla’s recently unveiled solar-powered “supercharger” recharging stations. The stations are capable of giving the Model S a 150-mile charge while you eat a sandwich and use the restroom. An hour gives the S a full charge.
The new station has already been installed at six California rest stops with more throughout California, Nevada and Oregon slated to open by the end of the year. Tesla hopes to “blanket almost the whole US” within two years.
The kicker: the recharge is free.
Even if dropping $50,000 on a Tesla isn’t in your plans, the innovations they’ve pioneered are likely to open up a whole new way of going ‘cross-country’ in the near future.
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About this author:
Eric Warren has an unhealthy love of all types of transportation, and is addicted to long stretches of open road.
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Check out this video from the unveiling of Tesla’s Supercharger. Drive across the US for FREE in two years?! Stunning!