3000-mile 2-day electric car test

Out of Spec organized a 3000 miles long test for electric cars, the “I-90 Surge”. I-90 (Interstate 90) is a highway in USA, between the Pacific Ocean port city Seattle and Atlantic Ocean port city Boston.

Cars with the longest range and fastest charging capability were used. All teams had three people in the car, so, they could switch drivers. The outcome of this two-day non-stop test was to understand which are technologically the best electric cars. The favourites were Porsche and Lucid. For comparison, a CO2 car was also used (Honda/Acura TLX Type S).

Out of Spec produced 12 hours of video and here are some of the highlights:

Good emotions of the Mercedes team

Porsche’s 12 minute charging stop

After 1000 miles, Lucid’s team has to confess that Porsche is the best

BMW’s nonsense: “Full DC charging power available again after DC charging pause of up to 2 days.”

While Lucid has the highest peak in charging power (339 kW), the average charging power is not very high. And unfortunately, Lucid’s team decided to take advantage of the battery’s buffer below 0% for too long distance and they ran out of electricity. Otherwise they could have competed for the the second place together with Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq 6.

Many Hyundai/Kia/Genesis electric cars use the 800 volt architecture similar to Porsche, so, they are known to charge fast.

Tesla Model 3 is the most efficient electric car and together with the extensive Tesla Supercharger network in the USA it makes a great combination. We expect perfect user experience in today’s world and a Tesla car with Tesla/NACS connector and a Tesla charger offers that.

BMW i7 is the most luxurious electric car of 2024, but it doesn’t charge as fast as some other cars. Although, side-by-side it was 4.5 hours slower compared to Mercedes EQS in crossing USA, in reality people sleep in hotels and cars are charged then, too, so the difference is not that big. Luxury cars are still the best cars to enjoy life.

The CO2 car finished the test in 44 hours and 20 minutes, so, 2 hours and 8 minutes before the first electric car, the Porsche Taycan. The CO2 car burned approximately 120 gallons (450 L) of gasoline, adding 20.000 ft³ (500 m³) of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Final comments: