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Electric car goes more than 1,000km on single charge

(Credit: Japan EV Club)

A car group in Tokyo recently drove an electric car 1,003.184 kilometers (about 623 miles) on a single charge, breaking its own record for greatest distance traveled without recharging. 

The Japan Electric Vehicle Club has asked Guinness World Records to certify the event, held at a track in Shimotsuma, Ibaraki Prefecture, last month. 

The modified Daihatsu Mira ran on a Sanyo lithium-ion power system containing more than 8,320 batteries. The car ran for 27.5 hours at about 25mph (40km/h). Seventeen drivers took turns at the wheel. 

Guinness recognized the club's 345-mile (555km) journey from Tokyo to Osaka in November 2009 as the longest on a single charge, according to Kyodo News. 

I'd like to know how many times the drivers stopped--and how this affected battery performance. Also, how do you fit more than 8,320 batteries (albeit small ones) into a car as tiny as the Mira? I doubt that there was much leg room left.