Polestar 3 Just Set This New Guinness World Record for EV Range

Date:2025-08-14 22:24:57 Category:tech Views:2 Comment:0

UK team of three drivers sets new Guinness World Record for the longest journey covered by an electric SUV on a single charge, traveling 581.3 miles in the UK.
The record-setting drive required 22 hours and 57 minutes in varying weather, with driving team members Sam Clarke, Kevin Booker, and Richard Parker switching every three hours.
The Polestar 3 wore stock Michelin Sport 4 EV tires on stock 20-inch wheels, though it's well known that greater range does not favor large wheels.

We all know how to hypermile an EV. First, pick a day warm enough to have the AC off but not hot enough to make you pass out with the windows up.

Stick to local roads where the speed limit is about 40 mph, brake early to let the regenerative braking soak up the extra juice, and pull away gently from stoplights.

But there's hypermiling an EV and then there's hypermiling an EV.

The latter just saw a Polestar 3 set a Guinness World Record for the longest journey covered by an electric SUV on a single charge, traveling 581.3 miles in the UK.

The team behind the effort used the long-range single-motor flavor of the tres, which is what you'd want, honestly, because a dual-motor setup will only consume more energy.

EV hypermiling efforts are often tedious in practice, but this one seemed like a real test of resolve: It required 22 hours and 57 minutes in varying weather including rain, with driving team members Sam Clarke, Kevin Booker, and Richard Parker switching every three hours.

Driving 8 Miles—With 0% Range!

When the Polestar 3 reached its WLTP figure of 438 miles, it still had 20% remaining. And when it reached 0%, it still drove for an extra eight miles before actually running out of juice.

"While the drivers pushed the Polestar 3 to the boundaries of its range capability, it goes to show how battery range has improved exponentially over the past few years," said Matt Galvin, Polestar UK Managing Director.

"For a large premium SUV to go way beyond a London to Edinburgh distance is truly impressive and with this the adage that 'EVs can't go far' has been very much consigned to the history books."

As for the distance, the team certainly did not get on the motorway trying to set a speed record—quite the opposite.

The official EPA figure of the single-motor US-market 2025 Polestar 3, if you haven't looked it up by now, is 350 miles, which is a conservative estimate compared to the WLTP cycle, by about 100 miles.

But we're really talking about the same car with both having a 111-kWh battery pack. (There's a long discussion to be had about WLTP and EPA testing methodology here, but one cannot argue with observable facts on the road).

Still, stretching 438 to 581.3 miles on one charge is very impressive.

All Without Low-Rolling Resistance Tires

"The production-standard SUV was adjudicated by Guinness World Records' own judge, Paulina Sapinska, with Webfleet providing meticulously documented and independently verified video footage, odometer readings, GPS readings, and battery level data," the automaker noted.

Also, nothing weird was used like low-rolling resistance tires that are as hard as those on forklifts. The vehicle wore Michelin Sport 4 EV tires on stock 20-inch wheels, and we know that wheel size can make a big difference in EPA and WLTP range.

"This official Guinness World Record for range is another proof point that Polestar 3 is setting new standards," Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller said.

If we had to try to beat this particular record with the same car in North America, we'd probably do it in mid-October in eastern Canada, so that we could go easy on the AC and also find fewer stop-lights in rural areas.

We certainly wouldn't do it in a country famous for speed cameras.

See, there are a few practical considerations when planning such record runs. But hypermiling attempts don't have to happen in what is already an aerodynamically slippery car.