The record is certified by Guinness World Records
The Taycan needed less than 2.5 hours of charging time to cross the United States
The previous record was 7 hours and 10 minutes
Guinness World Records have announced the new record holder for the least amount of charging time needed to cross the United States West to East for an electric car: The Porsche Taycan.
Wayne Gerdes, a veteran Guinness World Record holder for efficiency and range in various vehicles, drove a 2021 Taycan equipped with the Performance Battery Plus from Los Angeles to New-York in an attempt to beat the previous record.
The attempt, which took place from November 7 to November 12, 2021 saw the Taycan travel 2,834.5 miles (4,560.9 kilometers) and make 18 charging stops.
The Taycan’s ability to charge at speeds up to 350 kW and the use of Electrify America stations which are capable of such speeds made possible a total charging time of just 2 hours, 26 minutes and 48 seconds.
Wayne Gerdes and the Record-holding Taycan | Photo: Porsche
The previous record holder was the Kia EV6, which had necessitated 7 hours and 10 minutes of charging time to complete the same trip.
The driver said that the Taycan’s efficiency was the stand-out metric in his opinion, as well as the fast charging, which only took 22 minutes to take the battery from 6% to 82% at the first stop.
In order to minimise the charging time needed, the route was planned ahead using charging apps in order to decide when and where to have the battery replenished.
In order to have the record certified, the car was fitted with multiple cameras and a GPS tracker which accounted for every mile driven, while Gerdes had to carefully note down every stop and independent witnesses had to be present at each one. A panel of adjudicators reviewed the evidence before they handed out the title to the Porsche Taycan and its driver.
