Originally published on EVANNEX.
There have been some impressive stories of off-road adventures in the Tesla Model X. But this off-road challenge was especially daunting. A Model X owner planned to cover (as a photographer) the Adventure Racing World Championships through 500 miles of wilderness in Wyoming. However, he was cautioned against it.
 Tesla’s Model X, via Tesla |
Why? According to InsideEVs, “His job [as the photographer] is to follow the racers from 50 teams from all over the world. They’ll be repelling, mountain biking, bushwacking, and canoeing… [but] he was told ahead of time that following these racers with a vehicle could not be done. Also, there’s been concerns with ICE cars in past running out of gas since there’s sometimes 200 miles between gas stations and the trails are taxing.”
How could someone attempt to cover the Adventure Racing World Championships in an electric vehicle when even gas cars have range issues at the event? As it turns out, “there’s generally always somewhere to pick up a little charge. He prepared ahead of time by buying a bunch of plugs and adaptors* (about 200 lbs. worth) so he can charge anywhere, whenever there’s an opportunity. In fact, he has nearly every type available.”
And to add more difficulty to the trip, “He’s also pulling a trailer with his personal gear for the excursion, which makes off-roading even more of a challenge.” Furthermore, the road trip started all the way back in Toronto. According to the photographer, “[the] total road trip distance from Toronto, Wyoming, Utah, Wyoming, Toronto was 11, 311km @ 272Wh/km (7,028mi @ 438Wh/mi).”
Why take on such a challenge? The photographer wanted to film his own review of the “Tesla Model X in some off-road conditions.” Going on, “I had to work in Wyoming and traveled many muddy, back roads and trails.” He also explains (in the video) that taking the Model X through such terrain proved to the naysayers that it could be done.
Above: Some gorgeous imagery and challenging terrain in this Tesla Model X owner’s video of his off-road adventures (YouTube: AdventureArt)
After the adventure, the photographer noted that he’d encountered people who’d seen Tesla vehicles in cities but asked, “What are you doing driving it out here?” He concluded, “It was good to educate people on the kind of range you can get [and] the charging opportunities. It was a pretty good experiment, even for myself … it was fun.” It’s no wonder the Tesla Model X has been called the ultimate adventure vehicle.
Featured image: Tesla Model X and Powerwall, courtesy Tesla.
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
