The car in question is a 2014 Tesla Model S that has averaged over 20,000 miles a year since new.
The man behind this somewhat incredible logging of miles is Hansjörg von Gemmingen-Hornberg, who bought the car when it was almost new and had around 3,000 miles on the odometer.
At the time, Gemmingen-Hornberg already had a copy of Tesla’s first model Roadster, which he drove over 73,000 miles with.
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Long-miles Tesla doldis
Logging such incredible mileage with a Tesla should reasonably lead to some form of internet celebrity.
The fact is, however, that apart from regular reports on X, formerly Twitter, Gemmingen-Hornberg has been fairly anonymous. Now Watt Energy published a feature about the long miler.
Replaced engine 13 times
During its nine years on the road, with trips to Africa, Northern Norway and even China under its belt, the drivetrain in the Tesla has needed some maintenance.
The engines on early Model S were problematic, and it took Tesla a while to figure out the cause of the problem. For Gemmingen-Hornberg, there have been a total of 13 engine changes.
The batteries, which is what many worry about with old electric cars, have, however, fared better. The car is now on its fourth refurbished battery, and all of the previous batteries lasted between 50,000 and 70,000 miles.
That an average electric car can manage with a single battery during its lifetime thus seems far from impossible.
The rest of the Tesla seems to have held up pretty well, even though Tesla’s early cars are hardly known for their quality of detail.
Noticed by Musk
That the car passed 1 million kilometers in 2019 was celebrated by Elon Musk, but since then Tesla has been stingy with the attention.
Gemmingen-Hornberg’s theory is that Musk, who rarely appreciates negative news about Tesla, was irritated by reports of how many new engines the car has needed over the years.
Big record ambitions
This Tesla Model S is probably the highest-mileage Tesla in the world, but Hansjörg von Gemmingen-Hornberg says he’s not even halfway to the goal of owning the world’s highest-mileage car.
The car that holds the record for the highest mileage ever is a Volvo P1800 that covered a whopping 5.2 million kilometers with owner Irv Gordon behind the wheel. Gordon bought his beloved Volvo new in 1966 and drove it until his death in 2018.
Gemmingen-Hornberg says he has no problem spending 8 to 10 hours a day behind the wheel, easily covering 130 miles in a 24-hour long drive.
Being retired, thanks to an early investment in Tesla stock, he also has plenty of time to spend on reaching his goal.