Nordkapp, Norway - Polarsteps
Cape Saint-Vincent ๐ต๐น to Cape North ๐ณ๐ด
9 countries ๐ต๐น๐ช๐ธ๐ซ๐ท๐ง๐ช๐ฉ๐ช๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ซ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ด
5,887 km
70 hours 49 minutes
2 friends
1 electric car
We did it! ๐คฉ
We established the record time to cross Europe ๐ช๐บ from Cape to Cape in an electric car ๐๐โก๏ธ๐
We proved every naysayer wrong. Our job is done, now starts yours ๐
Share a link to this page to anyone that tells you that electric cars are not suited for long trips, that there arenโt enough chargers or that they take forever to charge ๐
Here is an easy link to remember:
โก๏ธ cannonball.TeslaStars.com
Obviously, a Cannonball Run is not a pleasant way to travel. In real life, we make less charging stops and our car always waits for us ready to go before we have recharged our batteries ๐
We did it to successfully prove a point ๐
Here is how we did it:
โข rule #1: donโt crash ๐ฅ
โข our real time position and speed was visible during the whole trip on Glympse ๐บ
โข we published on Polarsteps ๐งญ a picture of our car with its Cannonball stickers at each supercharger ๐ธ
โข a GoPro recorded a 4K timelapse of the entire run with a view of the Model 3 screen and the road seen behind the windscreen, here it is: https://youtu.be/Pi4LGKkkdF0 ๐ฅ
โข the entire trip has been logged on Teslamate, a fantastic open-source free data logger software running on a free Oracle server, from which we have published driving speeds, charging speeds, battery state of charge graphs ๐
โข departure on foot, just after sunset ๐
at 20:00 ๐ local time from the statue of Saint-Vincent at Cape Saint-Vincent ๐ต๐น. We ran towards our car, Classic Le Mans 24 Hours Race start style ๐
โข we aimed to drive at the legal speed limit for 99%+ of the time, only slightly exceeding it when required for safety (people tend to tailgate you when overtaking with a small speed difference) ๐
โข we used the speed indicated by the speedometer as this is what most people use to control their speed, not GPS based apps. Anyway, car makers have a duty to show an accurate speed that doesnโt exceed the real GPS speed. Teslaโs speedometer is usually correct within 1 or 2 km/h ๐
โข we drove most of France ๐ซ๐ท under rain which then reduces the highway speed limit from 130 km/h down to 110 km/h. Sometimes the speed limits shown on the car are wrong and we exceeded them because the speed limit signs said otherwise and the Tesla navigation map data in Europe ๐ช๐บ was full of errors ๐คฌ
โข obviously on unrestricted sections of the German ๐ฉ๐ช Autobahns ๐ฃ , there is no speed limit, soโฆ ๐
โข Autopilot ๐ค was a fantastic help during the run, handling most of the driving tasks and allowing us to concentrate on monitoring the road conditions and the behavior of other road users. This is a life-saving technology, especially on such a demanding road trip ๐
โข we used the proven Electric Cannonball method to minimize charging time by charging just enough to reach the next supercharger with a low state of charge to maximize charging power โก๏ธ. On some instances we reached the Supercharger with 1% or even 0%. This was done on purpose. Itโs so easy to control the arrival state of charge that it even became a game between us ๐คฃ
โข we tried to sleep in the car while the other was driving. This proved to be the hardest part ๐ด
โข we arrived at North Cape ๐ณ๐ด just after sunset ๐
, we parked Aldรฉbaran at the regular parking lot and ran towards the globe ๐ which we reached at 19:49 local time โบ๏ธ
There is a one hour time difference between Portugal ๐ต๐น and Norway ๐ณ๐ด so the total time is 70 hours 49 minutes as follows:
โข running time: 3 minutes
โข driving time: 61 hours 7 minutes
โข charging time: 9 hours 39 minutes
โข average driving speed: 97.2 km/h
โข 31 supercharging sessions
โข average charging time: 18 minutes 40 seconds
โข average speed including charges: 83.8 km/h
We showed that electric cars can do long road trips in short amounts of time ๐
The total time is a combination of range, efficiency, charging speed and charging infrastructure (locations and reliability) ๐
We deliberately only used the Tesla Supercharger network during the entire run, as in our experience with several other networks, Teslaโs is the only one that is super reliable, with numerous stalls at each stations. Out of the 31 supercharging sessions we did during the run, only once the charge didnโt start and we just had to move to the adjacent stall to make it work โบ๏ธ
Now what? ๐ค
Records are meant to be broken ๐
Already today, a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor Long Range, which has about 80 km more range than Aldรฉbaran, our 2019 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor Long Range, should easily beat our time, especially if fitted with 18โ Aero Wheels. Next year, a 2022 Tesla Model S Long Range with 19โ Aero Wheels should do even better ๐
So far itโs held by a Tesla but weโd love to see other electric cars attempt to break it as well. Fortunately the Tesla Supercharger network will be opened to other electric cars โsoonโ so that will make things easier ๐
The way we see it, this is not a competition. We are one team of humans fighting climate change by showing people they can move to electric cars for all their driving needs and stop burning fossil fuels ๐ข
Letโs show that electric cars are so much better than fossil cars in so many ways, and that they keep improving, as well as the charging infrastructure โก๏ธ
Come to us, ask us for advice. We messed up a few times, weโll tell you where you can improve our time ๐
Be prepared, because this is brutal, drive safely and beat that record ๐
Electric cars are the future and the future is now ๐คฉ
โโโ
You can reach us on Twitter:
@TeslaStars & @TeslaOwls
#EuropeanElectricCannonball
โโโ
5,887 km from Cape Saint-Vincent ๐ต๐น โข 0 km to Cape North ๐ณ๐ด
Leg #32 โข 152 km โข 2 h 15 mins โข 195 Wh/km
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TeslaStars
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๐๐โก๏ธ๐ค๐ช๐บ๐๐คฉ๐๐ป European Electric Cannonball
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Nordkapp