We’ve all see various people struggling to set new cross-country records, the trip from LA to NYC becoming somewhat of a legend among motoring enthusiasts. People have actually gone to jail trying to cross the United States as fast as possible but, up until not long ago, those records focused exclusively on internal combustion cars. Times are changing though and the Porsche Taycan EV just threw its hat in the ring.
The electric model from Stuttgart managed to set a different kind of record, this time validated by the Guinness World Records. The Taycan managed to become the car with the shortest charging time needed to drive across the country, thanks to a collaboration between Porsche and Electrify America. To that end, Wayne Gerdes, already a multi world record title holder for efficiency and range managed to claim another one for his trophy case.
He managed to cross the United States in an EV (the Taycan, of course) with the shortest charging time, which added up to a total of 2 hours, 26 minutes and 48 seconds. That was a drastic improvement over the previous record that used to be 7 hours, 10 minutes and 1 second. Going 2,834.5 miles and having to stop for just two and a half hours on the way to recharge is a mighty impressive feat and we’re guessing conventional cars might’ve needed that long for their passengers to be able to stretch their legs anyway.
Setting this World Record and having it certified by the Guinness World Records organization was a bit tricky though. Wayne was required to meet a daunting set of requirements, including meticulously noting every stop – with independent witnesses for each charge. Every mile 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 fitted with the Adaptive Cruise Control system for highway cruising. Setting up the route was essential as well, as Wayne had to make sure he reached the fastest chargers on the way.
“Comparing charging performance from of variety of EVs I have driven to date, the Taycan sets the bar. The first time I charged on a 350KW charger, 6 to 82 percent occurred in just 22-minutes,” said Wayne after the run. “I’m proud and honestly a little surprised to have set the new benchmark by such a margin. The Taycan performed even better than expected. Its performance, comfort and road holding were excellent, but the standout metric alongside the charging capacity was its efficiency. I’m grateful to both Porsche for supporting me and to Electrify America’s network, which made it possible,” he added.
