An American electric engine company has announced it has broken the Guinness World Record for electric miles driven in a 24-hour period.
The company, True Zero, announced it had completed to California-length drive of 1,438 miles (2314km) in a fuel-cell-electric Toyota Mirai in 24 hours, according to a company announced on September 15, Evdrive reported.
The goal of the drive was to demonstrate how a zero-emission electric vehicle can serve as a replacement for a gasoline vehicle.
The car was refueled with four-minute “fill-ups” using the True Zero retail hydrogen network between southern and northern California. The mileage mark is expected to become an official record once documentation is submitted and reviewed.
The drive, which started in Long Beach, spanned from sea level to 7,200 feet (2194 meters), passed through six of the seven largest cities in California, and crossed the state’s boundary into Reno.
Hydrogen fuel points were used to refuel the cars during the drive, as was a hydrogen charger in Sacramento operated by Linde.
“The point has been made that an electric car can do everything that a gasoline car can do, but with zero emissions,” said Joel Ewanick, CEO of First Element Fuel, True Zero’s parent company.
“All it took was grabbing a credit card, hopping in our Toyota with its carpool sticker, and charging up at the hydrogen stations. We did some city driving, we drove through the mountains, we stopped to take photos, we crossed the golden gate bridge, we stopped to talk to reporters and we even crossed into Reno. The Mirai can go more than 300 all-electric miles on each four-minute charge of True Zero hydrogen, so it was easy to do all of it in 24 hours without any concerns or range anxiety.”
True Zero’s hydrogen station network is funded in large part by grants from the California Energy Commission, South Coast AQMD and Bay Area AQMD.
Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz have also announced plans to retail a fuel cell vehicle next year.
The existing Guinness World Record for electric car miles driven in 24-hours is 2,142.317 kilometers or 1,331 miles set in the past year.
Other groups also claim to have “unofficially” broken the record for electric miles driven in 24-hours.
