Munich Students Smashed the World Record For EV Distance On a Single Charge

At 103 miles/kWh (or 0.6 kWh/100 km), the new "muc22" car built by students from the Technical University of Munich "is 25 times more efficient than any EV on sale..." writes Ars Technica. "For those who think in terms of miles per gallon, it's the equivalent of traveling 3,815 miles on a single gallon of gas. The car has a top speed of just 26 mph (42 km/h) - and without a driver it weighs just 374 lbs (170 kg):In a six-day test at Munich airport, it set a new distance record on a single charge (for a non-solar EV): 1,599 miles (2,574 km), with less battery capacity than many plug-in hybrids - just 15.5 kWh... The airflow-optimized shape has faired-in rear wheels and a drag coefficient of just 0.159; more importantly, though, it has a pretty tiny frontal area (it's only 39.4 inches/1,000 mm tall and 47.2 inches/1,200 mm wide)... [F]or this record run, muc22 made do with just 400 W - that's 268 times less powerful than the least-powerful EV on sale today, the Mazda MX-30... The record run took place in an empty hangar at Munich Airport, obviating any interference from the weather. The previous record stood at 999 miles (1,609 km), but the team of seven drivers reached that distance after just four days, and since the battery wasn't empty yet, the car kept going. Thanks to Slashdot reader FrankOVD for sharing the article.

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