400 Mile Range Prize

[dsm363]

I thought there was something about the trip having to end up @ Fremont or something -- I thought it was a prescribed target pair of start and stop cities. Perhaps I'm misremembering it.

Does it have to actually be a GPS-proven distance, or does a dyno run of 400 miles count?

That's what I remember too. Something about starting in LA but can't find it.

 

[ElSupreme]

That's what I remember too. Something about starting in LA but can't find it.

He tweeted it. Here you go!

 

[dsm363]

He tweeted it. Here you go!

View attachment 9691

Thanks. Thought I remembered seeing it somewhere and thinking "well, I can't even attempt that trip". Hope someone does and gets whatever prize there is.

 

[NigelM]

California-centric.....again......

 

[mlascano]

I'm sure they'll give the "prize" to anyone completing 400 miles on a single charge even if it's not the LA-SF trip Elon mentioned on his tweet.
This would be big publicity for TM no matter where it's done.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Baltimore to Boston (400 miles on I-95). That would be brutal -- there's no easy route that you could drive slowly and with few stops.

 

[vfx]

I'm sure they'll give the "prize" to anyone completing 400 miles on a single charge even if it's not the LA-SF trip Elon mentioned on his tweet.
This would be big publicity for TM no matter where it's done.

Yeah,,, If it happened in Florida, CA, Texas, Montana and 6 places inbetween it would add much more local credibility to the car's capabilities.

 

[dsm363]

I'm trying to figure out where one could safely drive that slow. Maybe state roads? You'd probably have to drive 35 mph.

 

[strider]

I'm trying to figure out where one could safely drive that slow. Maybe state roads? You'd probably have to drive 35 mph.

Based on the Model S range graph, yes, 35mph would do it.

Doing it on a track kind of takes the fun out of it... Should be on public roads on a trip to actually get somewhere vs driving in circles.

 

[NigelM]

Should be on public roads on a trip to actually get somewhere vs driving in circles.

+1. There's needs to be some thrill in it.....

(P.S. Substitute gas for battery....)

 

[Robert.Boston]

On my theoretical "drive the car home from the factory" trip, I had planned to drive west from Denver to Kansas City on US-36, which is straight, downhill, downwind, and lightly traveled. For safety sakes, it would be best for the Model S to be trailed by a vehicle with yellow flashing lights (like those used when moving over-width loads), but I'm sure that you could do 400 miles at 35mph on this route. From the Denver East / Strasburg KOA to Washington, KS is exactly 400 miles.

 

[JRod0802]

There are hypermiling contests that hybrid owners sometimes partake in. Wayne Gerdes, for example, drove his Honda Insight 2,254 miles on single tank of gas:
Honda Insight Hybrid Wins Hypermiling Competition with 124 Miles per Gallon : TreeHugger

Here's one such contest:
CleanMPG World Fuel Economy Championships - Records smashed! - CleanMPG Forums

Maybe Model S owners could do something similar to hit 400 miles.

 

[jat]

If I were going to try it (which I don't think it is worth 10+ hours of my time), I would drive circles around an abandoned shopping mall at ~30mph - that should do it.

 

[Johan]

If I were going to try it (which I don't think it is worth 10+ hours of my time), I would drive circles around an abandoned shopping mall at ~30mph - that should do it.

That would take you 13h20min at 30 mph

I think whole point is to drive from A to B with the two being 400 miles apart...

 

[jerry33]

If I were going to try it (which I don't think it is worth 10+ hours of my time), I would drive circles around an abandoned shopping mall at ~30mph - that should do it.

As I recall, Elon specifically excluded that method.

 

[NigelM]

Driving around town this morning I noticed that my projected range was >20 miles higher than rated range and that as I drove neither number seemed to be falling in line with my mileage. I tried beng "extra careful" with my driving habits for 5 or 6 miles to see how low I could get the average power consumption while still keeping up with traffic. With A/C and music on I got the average down to 186Wh/mile which seems to indicate that 400 is achievable.

 

[stevezzzz]

Over on another thread devoted to this topic I proposed a route from Alma, CO, to Hays, KS. My entry is near the bottom of this first page.

Best Route for 400 mile Challenge

Based on recent experience with driving the S on mountain roads in Colorado, I now believe that it's much more important to pick a route that includes an absolute minimum of climbing (i.e., as flat as possible) than to try a route that is significantly downhill overall but includes climbs as well as descents. You just don't get back enough of the energy expended in climbs during the descents. I drove a 48 mile route that descended 4000' overall, but I still expended about 143 Wh/mile. Granted, I did it at higher speeds than a hypermiler would, but the bulk of it was done between 30 mph and 45 mph.

Hack-charging on a generator - Page 8

 

[GSP]

Try a circular , flat, city route. Cross county city to city is not the way to get 400 mi.

GSP

 

[Arnold Panz]

Nigel, I've played that game also of trying to my average under 300 or under 200 -- the easiest is when I'm with traveling with the wind and driving behind a truck going slow (around 50mph). If I had two days to spare (because I'd need to go 400 miles in one direction) I'm pretty confident I could do the 400 miles on a charge, but unless the prize is another S I really can't spare the time!

 

[mnx]

I really thought someone would have done it already. Perhaps I'll get a chance to try it after all.