Across the USA in a Porsche Taycan with less than 2.5 hours of recharging needed

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Across the USA in a Porsche Taycan with less than 2.5 hours of recharging needed

When the subject of electric vehicles comes up, a common topic is range. This is important to buyers since, unlike cars which run on petrol or diesel, you cannot just drive into a station and refuel. With a fully electric vehicle or battery electric vehicle (BEV), you need a charging station to ‘refuel’ with electricity. So how far the car can go on a fully charged battery pack matters and this range is increasing as battery technology advances.

Depending on the country and region, the network of charging stations varies in coverage. In Europe, Japan and North America, it is quite extensive so BEV owners can drive long distances and be assured that they will get ‘fuel’ along the way.

In Malaysia, it is still small and it is only now that Shell, collaborating with Porsche Asia-Pacific, is setting up charging points at stations along the North-South Expressway. This will enable BEV owners to travel from Singapore all the way to the north and eventually, in Thailand as well.

For Americans, driving long distances on electric power is getting common and the nationwide Electrify America CCS DC fast charging network is extensive enough. This encouraged Wayne Gerdes, a multi-Guinness World Records title-holder for efficiency and range in other vehicles, to set a new record for the shortest charging time to cross the continental USA in a BEV, specifically a Porsche Taycan. The record that existed was 7 hours, 10 minutes, and 1 second.

Gerdes completed the crossing from Los Angeles in California to New York City covering 4,563.5 kms in the red Taycan with a cumulative charge time of just 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 48 seconds. “Comparing charging performance from of variety of EVs I have driven to date, the Taycan sets the bar,” said Gerdes. “The first time I charged on a 350KW charger, 6% to 82% was done in just 22 minutes.”

To qualify for the Guinness World Records title, Gerdes was required to meet a daunting set of requirements, including meticulously noting every stop – with independent witnesses for each charge. Every kilometre covered was filmed, GPS tracked and accounted for before being certified by a panel of adjudicators ahead of the record being accepted. The car selected was a standard 2021 Taycan equipped with the Performance Battery Plus as well as nice-to-have luxury items for the coast-to-coast drive, such as the Premium Package, Adaptive Cruise Control and Porsche Electric Sport Sound.