Japanese team sets new standard: 1000km on a single charge

[Fumesucker]

http://www.gizmag.com/japanese-ev-club-travels-1000-km-on-one-charge/15298/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=2a3f065112-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

Giving us yet another reason to get behind electric, the Japan Electric Vehicle Club recently exceeded its own Guinness record for longest distance driven without recharging, achieving a staggering 1,003.184 km (or about 623 miles).

The club's Mira EV, a modified Daihatsu Mira, was powered by a Sanyo battery system containing more than 8,320 lithium-ion batteries, the very same kind found in laptop PCs.

Running at a speed of about 40 km/h (or about 25 mph), the team employed 17 people taking turns as drivers during the course of their 27.5 hour effort. It took place at a track in Shimotsuma, in Ibaraki Prefecture.

While Guinness World Records still recognizes their previous 555.6 km journey from Tokyo to Osaka last year as the official record, the team has requested that the organization officially recognize this latest feat as the new milestone, according to Kyodo News.

[Bonobo]

1. I'm proud of Japan.

One of the many, many reasons I love this country.

It gives me a spark of hope. :)

K&R

[davidinalameda]

2. 25 mph?

let's see how they do at real speeds

[Bonobo]

3. If you want to save the planet...

We all may just need to slow down a little bit.

Don't you think?

[davidinalameda]

8. when people have to drive 30-60 miles one way to work

25 mph isn't realistic

[no limit]

4. They can probably still do a very large distance at something like 60 mph

I think the goal here was to set the record so speed wasn't one of the objectives.

My real concern is how many batteries it took. 8,000 laptop batteries can't be cheap.

[Fumesucker]

5. Double the speed and you'll probably drop the range to around 250 km..

Plus that car doesn't seem all that aerodynamic, the rear is entirely too squared off for a low drag coefficient.

On Edit: I found the Cd is about .37, not all that good, a Prius is considerably better at about .26

[immoderate]

6. Ah, you are forgetting the Kamm effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamm_effect

--imm

[Art_from_Ark]

7. In Japan, that is a real speed

You would be lucky to average more than that in Japan on the regular roads, especially the one-digit national highways.

[Kalyke]

9. Gak!!!

Another ugly POS that doesn't consider people with children.

Not that I buy cars where the profits from their sale go to bust unions, help the GNP of another country and further annihilate American manufacturing, anyway.

:shrug:

[The Straight Story]

10. Meh. Looks like they started at the top of a mountain and coasted down most the time

;)

[Art_from_Ark]

11. The picture is from the first run I would assume

since an ocean coast (presumably the Pacific) is in the background.
The latest test was conducted in Shimotsuma, a relatively flat inland area with no mountains within the town limits.