A Cannonball Run is a coast-to-coast drive across the US, usually in an attempt to break a record.
And that’s what Alex Roy, editor-at-large for The Drive, just did in one of the first Tesla Model 3 customer cars off of the assembly line.
Roy embarked from Los Angeles on December 28 with the car’s owner, Daniel Zorrilla, and parked the Electric Vehicle (EV) in New York City just over 50 driving hours later.
That’s the fastest Cannonball Run in an electric car personally for Roy by almost five hours, and the fastest that’s ever been made in an EV, by over one hour.
…
Alex Roy embarked from Los Angeles on December 28 with Tesla Model 3 owner Daniel Zorrilla and parked the Electric Vehicle (EV) in New York City just over 50 hours later
Tesla has experienced significant delays in getting promised Model 3s to anxious customers, which it had hoped to be producing at a much higher volume by now, so this Cannonball Run was sort of an exclusive event for Roy and Zorrillo.
But the company, helmed by CEO Elon Musk, said Wednesday that it’s ‘focus[ing] on quality and efficiency rather than simply pushing for the highest possible volume in the shortest period of time,’ according to its latest Vehicle Production and Deliveries report.
Musk’s initial hope was to be putting out 5,000 Model 3s per week by the end of 2017, and he later bumped that product target date to March 2018.
Now, the new goal is to produce 2,500 Models 3s each week by March and to hit the 5,000 per week stride by the end of June.
Only 1,550 Model 3s made it into the hands of owners like Zorrillo in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Roy and Zorrillo just made the fastest Cannonball Run in an electric car personally for Roy by almost five hours, and the fastest that’s ever been made in an EV, by over one hour
Tesla has experienced significant delays in getting promised Model 3s to anxious customers, which it had hoped to be producing at a much higher volume by now
Roy and Zorrilla started their journey from the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach with the goal of testing the range and reliabilty of the Tesla Model 3.
When it was all said and done, they made it to the Red Ball garage in New York City, which is near the Empire State Building, in 50 hours, 16 minutes and 32 seconds.
That bested Roy’s record from 2016, over the exact same drive in a 2016 Tesla Model S 90D, which took him exactly 55 hours.
Roy made that drive on August 24, 2016 with Warren ‘Mr. X’ Ahner and Franz Aliquo, The Drive reported.
This time around, Roy and Zorrillo’s total charging cost was $100.95 over the 2,860-mile (4,603-kilometer) journey.
Roy tweeted along the way, sharing quips from the road, teasing the eventual end on the much chillier east coast early on in the drive.
Roy tweeted along the way, sharing quips from the road, teasing the eventual end on the much chillier east coast early on in the drive
A Model 3 is seen here on the Tesla company grounds in Fremont, California on July 28, 2017
First, he made it personal, writing on December 29:
‘I can confirm that extreme cold negatively affects the #Tesla #Model3. Also, ME.’
As they made it further along, Roy chimed in again about the terrain.
‘How does a #Tesla #Model3 handle freezing temperatures?’ he wrote on December 30.
‘I shall be reporting soon!’
Roy made it personal, writing on December 29: ‘I can confirm that extreme cold negatively affects the #Tesla #Model3. Also, ME’
Roy and Zorrillo made the drive in one of the first Model 3s delivered to customers
In another post, much later on December 30, Roy shared a snowy snapshot of the EV charging up, and posited the question:
‘Does the #Tesla have a preferred Winter tire for the #Model3?’
It’s not clear whether he got an answer to that one.
Before the duo of Roy and Zorrillo made this latest trip, the record for fastest Cannonball Run yet in an EV belonged to Jordan Hart and Bradly D’Souza, according to the Verge.
Before Roy and Zorrillo made this latest trip, the record for fastest Cannonball Run yet in an EV belonged to Jordan Hart and Bradly D’Souza, with a total trip time of 51 hours and 47 minutes
The average drive in a gas-fueled vehicle from Los Angeles to New York City is estimated to take around 42 hours
It was in 2015 that Hart and D’Souza drove that year’s Tesla Model S from Redondo Beach to East 31st Street in New York City, with a total trip time of 51 hours and 47 minutes.
According to The Drive, Erwin ‘Cannonball’ Baker invented what became known as a Cannonball Run about 100 years ago, when he started making cross-country drives as fast as he possibly could, in whatever vehicle was available to him.
His goal was to showcase the ‘reliability, range, and ease of refueling internal combustion cars.’
The average drive in a gas-fueled vehicle from Los Angeles to New York City is estimated to take around 42 hours.
Musk’s initial hope was to be putting out 5,000 Model 3s per week by the end of 2017, and he later bumped that product target date to March 2018.; Now, the new goal is to produce 2,500 Models 3s each week by March and to hit the 5,000 per week stride by the end of June