...by the same team who beat it last time.
Yep, the Japan EV Club have taken their electric powered Daihatsu Mira van to a massive 623 miles, a full 278 miles further than the last record, a figure they themselves had snatched from two Aussies in a Tesla Roadster.
The significantly more efficiency-honed Mira has benefitted from even lower rolling resistance Toyo tyres, as well as a carbon fibre seat to reduce weight. Average speed throughout the journey was 25mph, so although impressive the record probably isn't representative of real-world conditions. That said, the record is probably more akin to the typical inner-city driving conditions that many EVs will be particularly suited to.
Last time, Tarmac asked you to place your bets on how long it would take for the record to be beaten. We'd be honest and say that nobody expected the same team to beat it, let alone so comprehensively...
Anyway... place your bets, anyone?
Showing posts with label hypermiling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hypermiling. Show all posts
Previous electric car range record already decimated...
Not even so long as one month ago a team of two drivers recorded 313 miles in a Tesla Roadster to set a new electric vehicle distance record.
Clearly, members from the Japan EV Club (Japanese site) thought they could do better, and have gone 44 miles better in a Daihatsu Mira EV van. Sanyo provided the batteries and the whole lot is transmitted through the Mira's standard five-speed transmission. Even though conditions look less than ideal and the trip from Tokyo to Osaka isn't the flattest and most EV-friendly journey in the world, the team benefited from the Mira's light weight, a large battery and some low rolling-resistance Toyo tyres. The journey took 13 hours, and if you can read Japanese, there's probably more information on the team's own website.
Place your bets on how long it takes for another team to break the record again... News via AutoBlogGreen and Car Watch (Japanese site).
(Image: Car Watch)
Clearly, members from the Japan EV Club (Japanese site) thought they could do better, and have gone 44 miles better in a Daihatsu Mira EV van. Sanyo provided the batteries and the whole lot is transmitted through the Mira's standard five-speed transmission. Even though conditions look less than ideal and the trip from Tokyo to Osaka isn't the flattest and most EV-friendly journey in the world, the team benefited from the Mira's light weight, a large battery and some low rolling-resistance Toyo tyres. The journey took 13 hours, and if you can read Japanese, there's probably more information on the team's own website.
Place your bets on how long it takes for another team to break the record again... News via AutoBlogGreen and Car Watch (Japanese site).(Image: Car Watch)
72mpg from a Toyota iQ
Living up to manufacturer's fuel efficiency claims is something that cars generally struggle to do. There are exceptions to every rule however, and the Toyota iQ has become one of those exceptions with a small team managing to go 504.2 miles on 32 litres of petrol. This equates to 72mpg, when Toyota officially quote 65.7mpg. They managed to visit 19 British cities along the way. The half-way blog post is here and the start of the challenge is here. If the petrol iQ is capable of this much, one must wonder how much a diesel model could achieve...
This shows what can be achieved not only by Toyota's impressive little city car, but also by careful driving technique. Doubtless many cars are capable of matching their claimed economy figures, but potentially hampered by the person behind the wheel.
This shows what can be achieved not only by Toyota's impressive little city car, but also by careful driving technique. Doubtless many cars are capable of matching their claimed economy figures, but potentially hampered by the person behind the wheel.
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