Automotive

Tesla tackles Guinness World Record by towing a commercial airliner

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A Tesla Model X P100D covered almost 300 m (1,000 ft) while dragging the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner along for the ride
A Tesla Model X P100D covered almost 300 m (1,000 ft) while dragging the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner along for the ride
A Boeing Dreamliner taxiing through Melbourne airport has received a helping hand
A Tesla Model X P100D covered almost 300 m (1,000 ft) while dragging the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner along for the ride
Qantas does already use some electric aircraft tugs at airports in Sydney and Canberra
A Tesla Model X P100D covered almost 300 m (1,000 ft) while dragging the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner along for the ride
A Boeing Dreamliner taxiing through Melbourne airport has received a helping hand
A Boeing Dreamliner taxiing through Melbourne airport has received a helping hand
A Tesla Model X P100D covered almost 300 m (1,000 ft) while dragging the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner along for the ride
Qantas does already use some electric aircraft tugs at airports in Sydney and Canberra
View gallery - 9 images

A Boeing Dreamliner taxiing at Melbourne Airport has received a helping hand, with Tesla's brawny Model X towing the airliner across the tarmac as part of a Guinness World Record attempt.

The vehicle deployed for the stunt was a Model X P100D, which in Tesla speak refers to a 100-kWh battery pack and the D denoting a dual-motor, all-wheel drive. This makes for an on-road towing capacity of 2.5 tons (5,500 lb), but the car went above and beyond that by some margin when it tugged the 130-ton (260,000-lb) aircraft across the tarmac.

It covered almost 300 m (1,000 ft) while dragging the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner along for the ride. That aircraft is a relatively new member of Qantas' fleet, hailed as a game-changer by the airline with the ability to carry out longer-haul flights, including a first ever non-stop commercial service between Australia and London that began in March.

A Tesla Model X P100D covered almost 300 m (1,000 ft) while dragging the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner along for the ride

There's no official word from Guinness just yet, though that does appear to be just a formality, with Qantas and Tesla gunning for the record for the "heaviest tow by an electric production passenger vehicle." It is the first time a passenger airliner has been towed by an electric passenger vehicle, although Qantas does already use some electric aircraft tugs at airports in Sydney and Canberra in a bid to reduce its carbon emissions.

See the record-attempt play out in the video below.

Source: Qantas

View gallery - 9 images
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6 comments
watersworm
Tesla will soon tackle bankrupcy record for automotive industry ?
MarcUrruela
Maybe Maybelline it has changed , the spirit of space, spirit of extasy?!
MarcUrruela
And creato sapiens, one and more
ljaques
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it weighs 130T, but what's the rolling resistance? Obviously around 2.5T, wot? Cool task, Tesla. Carry on.
guzmanchinky
Hopefully soon every vehicle will be electric. And full of torque. And SILENT.
Leonard Foster Jr
You could tow that Plane with a Bicycle as long as you have the Proper Gears to do so.