On August 24th, 2016, at 0126hr PST, a 2016 Tesla Model S 90D departed the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California. The team of Alex Roy, Warren “Mr. X” Ahner & Franz Aliquo transited 2,877 miles to the Red Ball Garage in New York City in precisely 55 hours, shattering the Electric Vehicle (EV) Cannonball record by 2 hours & 48 minutes. The trio also set a new Autonomous Driving (AD) Cannonball record, using Tesla’s semi-AD Autopilot 7 97.7% of the journey from coast to coast, bettering the prior record of 96.1%.

GPS data was logged by US Fleet Tracking, and GPS/video logged by Comma.ai/Chffr.

Alex Roy/TheDrive.com

Distance: 2877 miles

Total Time: 55:00

Drive Time: 41:14

Charge Time: 13:46

Driving Average: 70 mph There is no greater test of man and machine than endurance driving, and records, as they say, are meant to be broken. David Maher and I shattered the Cannonball Run record back in 2006, which was shattered again by Ed Bolian and Dave Black in 2013. Carl Reese and Deena Mastracci set the electric Cannonball record in 2015, and I joined them later that year to break it again, and to annihilate the semi-Autonomous record. A few weeks later, Zach Bowman and I set the 3-wheeled Cannonball record. In a Morgan. In a snowstorm. That time cannot last. Then, as far as setting records went, I went quiet. If you have to ask why, then you don’t know the story of Cannonball Baker. A century ago, Erwin “Cannonball” Baker set the first of hundreds of transcontinental driving records. Manufacturers like Cadillac, Crosley and Stutz hired him to demonstrate the speed, fuel economy and reliability of their latest models. Before Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System. Before speed limits and speed traps, and the evaporation of concepts like driver education and personal responsibility. This wasn’t illegal. This was encouraged.

Alex Roy/TheDrive.com

Why set an electric record? The same reason I do so much Tesla coverage. I’m a fan of innovation. I love internal combustion, but the future lies elsewhere, at an uncertain confluence of electrification, autonomy and infrastructure, which is where Tesla lives. A new equilibrium of emerging technologies is inevitable, and I am absolutely thrilled about what is coming. I love my ‘00 BMW M5, ‘73 Citroen SM and ‘87 911, but there is nothing more to be learned by inhaling gasoline fumes, carrying a trunkload of spare parts and babying them cross-country. Internal combustion records that stood for decades are now unlikely to be bettered by more than a minute or two—if ever. Performance envelopes are beyond the skills of most drivers, let alone road conditions. Internal combustion has had its day. Electric and Autonomous Driving technologies, however, are in their infancy, and the speed at which they are evolving is reflected in how quickly records for each are being shattered. Transcontinental times for both categories are now as good as (or better) than the slower vehicles in the early Cannonball races of the 70’s. As battery power density and charging times improve — and they are now improving at an incredible rate — internal combustion and pure human driving records will fall, on-track and off.

Alex Roy/TheDrive.com

Tesla alone exists at the center of the Venn diagram of electrification, autonomy and fast charging infrastructure. Until Audi, BMW, Ford, GM, Mercedes, Porsche, Toyota or Volvo open the black leather kimonos and show us more than geo-fenced "mobility" targeted at Uber, Lyft and Didi, Tesla represents the only light in the cave of future car enthusiasm—a future where I still get to drive myself anywhere I want, using new technology as I choose to use it. We’ve all seen hints of what the old guard is capable of. We can look to the Porsche Mission-E and Volvo’s DriveMe as examples of OEMs innovating smartly, but those are two different products in two different cars. Electrification in one, autonomy in the other. I want them in the same car, with a fast charging network, and that is what makes Tesla unique. For now. I promise you, the instant any of the OEMs release an EV and/or AD vehicle that will beat a Tesla cross-country, I’ll be the first person to give it a shot. A semi-autonomous internal combustion car could easily beat the Autopilot portion of our most recent record run, if only someone would lend me a car. I hear there’s a very interesting Swedish car coming down the pike, and another from China, and Germany, and then there’s Hotz’s Comma One. I look forward to setting/breaking every internal combustion driving record possible using the next generation of emerging technologies, regardless of the source. These new records will fall, as they should, in further demonstrations of innovation and ingenuity. We car lovers live in interesting times. Let's make it so.