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Automotive

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

By Rick Martin
June 04, 2010
Japanese team sets new standard: 1000km on a single charge
The Japan Electric Vehicle Club's record-setting Mira EV
The Japan Electric Vehicle Club's record-setting Mira EV
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The Japan Electric Vehicle Club with their record-setting Mira EV
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The Japan Electric Vehicle Club with their record-setting Mira EV
The Japan Electric Vehicle Club's record-setting Mira EV
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The Japan Electric Vehicle Club's record-setting Mira EV

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.

Given that they nearly doubled the previous standard, one hopes that this drive makes it into the books.

The Japan Electric Vehicle Club with their record-setting Mira EV
The Japan Electric Vehicle Club with their record-setting Mira EV

Check out the JEVC ustream page for some video footage from their epic ride.

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AutomotiveRecordLithium-ionElectric VehiclesRechargingDistanceJapan
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Rick Martin

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11 comments
mrhuckfin
O.K. mildly impressive and I guess you have to start some place? But this does not represent real world driving or real world practicality in anyway shape or form. I can approximate this with an example of my own. Once had to move from Southern California up to Oregon, was driving a Dodge Charger with a 440 Cu. In. V8 and a 6 pack on it, this car didn\'t normally get better then 15 MPG on a good day but we had to drive it fallowing all our earthly possessions in a two ton truck from the late 40\'s and it almost never went more then 35 or 40 MPH for the whole 1000 plus mile trip and with us following behind it at those speeds we got from 35 to 38 MPG driving that slow! So with no modifications what so ever our car almost quadrupled it\'s mileage but in a manner that no where\'s neared an ordinary real world circumstance. What would happen with that little car if you drove it in stop and go traffic or 60 or 70 MPH? I\'d be willing to bet that it falls to around 100 miles range or so. Still the best bang for the buck is gas. I\'m not sold on electric, now combine an electric drive with a Stirling engine and then you might have my interest! -)
Drew__1
Average around town speed is around 30km/h and while the track didn\'t appear to simulate stop start traffic, electric vehicles are not as effected by it as petrol vehicles, as there are no idle losses.
Reason
I\'d be more than happy with half that in real world conditions. On the very rare occasions I drive more than that without stopping (once in the last 12 months) again I\'d be happy to stop at a quick charge station, especially if they had good coffee! It also might save a few lives if everyone needed to have a pit stop like this.
PeetEngineer
25mph isn\'t much faster than cycling - admittedly I\'d be a bit tired after riding my bike 1000km but covering those kinds of distances with any kind of expediance demands higher speeds! I say well done to our friends in the east but realistically this is just a golf cart. The practicality of pure electric power is dependant on higher density energy storage, gizmag did an article on air-lithium batteries, I\'d like to see one of these golf carts powered by one of those and see if real-world motoring is possible then.
Facebook User
\"Still the best bang for the buck is gas.\" @Mrhuckfin: You do realize that the most efficient combustion engine possible in theory is still about 1/2 as efficient as an electric motor, right? And in the real world, current electric cars (such as the Tesla EV) - cost from $0.01 to $0.03 per mile in terms of fuel. Much better than any gas car, or a hybrid for that matter - that is, unless you know something I don\'t.
Facebook User
Re: Real-world driving conditions: \"Guinness World Records still recognizes their previous 555.6 km journey from Tokyo to Osaka last year as the official record...\"
555.6kms (345mi) in real-world highway driving is pretty impressive. I\'ve yet in seven vehicles, owned anything that gets close to 500kms per tank; even driving as smoothly as possible.
Facebook User
mrhuckfin is right this is not practical for any form of real world use. Until you can take a 350 mile trip in a full size 3/4 ton loaded Fore, Chev. or Dodge van at 55 miles per hour with out a recharge, you are just kidding yourself that you are doing any thing worth while. Not all folks want to travel in a small car or can due to real world problems. I drive a Chev. HHR at at real world speeds on the highway I get 34 miles to the gal. and in very hill central AR. wher I live I get 27 to 30.
Facebook User
Gee I wonder what was in the back seat behind the Samurai? Let me guess - batteries? Any change for one metric tonne of them?
Wragie
A lot of charge is used when accelerating. The limiting factor for speed and acceleration are volts and amps respectivly. If you drive an electric its very easy to peg the amps trying to go from a stop to normal road speeds. You can easily pull a few hundred amps just driving fairly normally on a flat road and really pull some on hills. On a track you can use a lot less by creeping up. Plus there is no traffic or lights or anything else to detract from the perfect technique.
The other record from town to town is a lot more realistic/realworld this just isn\'t.
Mark in MI
At a generous $5 per cell for the 8320 li-Ion cells they packed in that car, the battery would cost $41,600! That is not realistic nor cost effective. It would also take up tons of space and take days to charge without doubling the energy input to cool it as you charge. This car is the equivalent of putting an extra 100 gallon tank in the back seat of the same microcar. That would go 6000 miles under the same conditions! Car & Driver magazine editors once drove a small car across America from the Pacific to the Atlantic using this technique. It proves nothing to pack the cargo and seating area with extra cells. All they wanted or get is the record itself.
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