Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently claimed on Twitter that a Tesla Model S P100D should be able to travel over 1,000 km (620 miles) if it has the right tires.
Musk made the claim after retweeting a post by Electrek, which contained a link to an article about the new Model S’ hypermiling record. Hypermiling is a process done to test how far a vehicle can go on a single charge or tank of fuel when driven, to maximize efficiency.
Over 1000 km should be possible in a 100D with the right tires https://t.co/8czN3dVZE4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2017
The Electrek article says that a hypermiling team from Belgium drove Model S P100D, currently Tesla’s fastest vehicle, around a 26 km (16-mile) closed-loop for almost 24 hours. The vehicle traveled at speeds of 40 km/h (24 mph), and the vehicle was able to travel for around 900 km (560 miles) on a single charge.
This breaks the previous record which was set by Casey Spencer, who drove a Model S 85D ~885 kilometers (550.3 miles) on a single charge. However, the Model SP100D has a much higher energy capacity, which can account for Musk’s claim that the vehicle could go even further conditions were right.
An average driver will probably not be driving their vehicle under hypermiling conditions, however, it does seem clear that Tesla’s electric vehicles are more efficient than they ever were before. As one of the primary barriers to the adoption of the electric vehicle has been concerns about the limited range, this may lead to the increased adoption of electric cars.
