After more than a decade of experience, the owner of the second most sold electric car in the world said he has never thought about returning to using a gasoline or diesel car.
The Tesla Model S conquered the Sahara desert at the 1.8 million km mark.
Up to now, Mr. Hansjörg von Gemmingen-Hornberg of Germany has driven a Tesla Model S nearly 2 million km, to many places around the world, conquering the Sahara desert in Africa.
Talking about the most traveled car, many people will certainly immediately think of the 1966 Volvo P1800 that Mr. Irv Gordon bought new and drove 5.23 million km before passing away in 2018.
Mr. Irv’s coupe only had to change its engine twice. Meanwhile, Gemmingen-Hornberg’s Tesla Model S P85 has replaced 13 motors and is using a 4th battery pack, although the total distance achieved is only about 1/3.
It was not Gemmingen-Hornberg’s reckless driving. He affirmed that he normally never drives more than 100km/h, even though he lives in Germany, a country with roads without speed limits. He regularly charges the battery between 15-70%.
Gemmingen-Hornberg said he mainly uses Tesla’s fast charging system because it is both convenient and free for life.
Conscious care has helped the current battery pack on his Tesla Model S only lose 8% after 150,000km, giving the car a range of about 400km. Before being replaced, the front battery pack was so corroded that it could only provide enough energy for the car to run 260km.
All 3 battery replacements were done by Tesla for free, but like the engine, not every time was a new replacement, sometimes the engine and battery were used from another car, repaired by the company for use. next.
Mr. Gemmingen-Hornberg said that Tesla only replaced the engine without specifying what problem it had; There are engines that can only last 50,000km or 70,000km, but there are engines that can last 780,000km. However, because they are replaced free of charge and he often detects problems early, he sees no trouble.
The car’s original interior is still quite good.
Gemmingen-Hornberg is not a taxi driver, but just an ordinary person. He bought a used Model S in 2014 when it had only run 30,000km (according to the odometer) and liked to drive it everywhere. He inherited it from his parents and bought Tesla shares from the early days.
Talking about the “secret” to keeping the car at the unbelievable durability mentioned above, Gemming-Hornberg said he never drives the car above the speed limit of 100 km/h, even though he lives in a country famous for not having limits. speed limit on the road. He also regularly charges the car between 15-70%.
This scientific way of driving helps the car’s battery only lose 8% after 150,000 km of travel and the range still reaches about 400 km on a single charge. The last time he changed the battery was when it could only operate about 260 km per charge.
The car of a man with a passion for backpacking has been to China
The current total kilometers traveled is 2 million, far behind many gasoline cars, but this result is still extremely impressive, especially for an early electric car.
He not only drove around Europe but also to Morocco and even China (but transferred by plane). Currently, he has just returned to Germany after a trip to Africa.
The Model S isn’t the only Tesla that Gemmingen-Hornberg owns. He also has a first-generation Tesla Roadster, but less so; So far it has only run 735,000km.
Even though it took 13 engines and 4 battery packs (including the first set) to complete nearly 2 million km, far behind many gasoline cars, this result is still extremely impressive, especially for an electric car. first generation.
Talking about the plus points of electric cars compared to gasoline cars, Mr. Gemmingen-Hornberg gave the example that when driving in the desert, gasoline cars are affected by dust and sand, while electric cars are not, because the engine operates without the need for air. gas.
He said that although the car had to have the engine replaced and the battery replaced, it was all done by Tesla for free. Although he can no longer replace the battery for free, he said he can pay this cost himself and has no intention of returning to a gasoline car.
He believes that he has loved electric cars since the beginning and still finds buying an electric car to be the right decision. He wants to continue spending the rest of his life traveling with his Model S.
