While cramming many batteries into the back of a regular vehicle and turning it into a long-range electric vehicle seems like a straightforward enough thing to do, we have no doubt that many try it, but we only end up hearing about a small percentage of them – the ones who actually achieve noteworthy results.
With a 64 year-old Dakar rally winner on board, the first one in Japan’s history, a local team has officially made itself worthy of media attention, after having covered 1,300 km (807 miles) aboard a Suzuki Every kei van, that was probably filled full of batteries in the back, and only charging it up once beforehand.
Apparently, Suzuki did sell an electric version of the Every, but its quoted range was nowhere near what was achieved today, hinting at extensive yet unspecified modifications done to it for the staged drive around the village of Ogata, in the Akita Prefecture.
Regardless, the attempt dwarfed the previous one by almost 300 km (186 miles) and landed the participants a chance at a Guinness world record. However, it probably won’t last long, and we’re now looking forward to seeing the next, better vehicle, the one that will break the 2,000 km (1,242 mile) barrier.
By Andrei Nedelea
Story References: Japantimes via Green.Autoblog
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