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world records

The TUfast Eco Team celebrating its victory.

Imagine driving halfway across America in your electric vehicle on one charge. ONE CHARGE. Sixteen hundred miles. It’s impossible to believe—most EVs get maybe 250 miles before needing a charge—but German students created a car that does just that.

Called the "muc022 prototype," the single-seater vehicle, which looks like a Smart car but even cuter and more aerodynamic, handily surpassed the previous record of 999.5 miles in four days. The team of students from the Technical University of Munich kept driving the 374-pound car for two more days until it finally coasted to a stop after going 1,599.27 miles. All told, the car made it 99 hours on the road.

Of course, it wasn’t truly a road. (Or autobahn, if you’re being authentisch.) The students tested the car, a modified version of a vehicle used in previous competitions, in an empty hangar at Munich airport. Students from the team even slept in the hangar.


The group was awarded a Guinness World Record for “Greatest distance by electric vehicle, single charge (non-solar).”

The muc022 prototype is one of the most energy-efficient vehicles ever, with an energy consumption ratio of 103 miles per kilowatt-hour. For perspective, consider that Tesla Model Y, which calls itself “The most efficient Electric SUV ever built,” only offers 4 miles/kWh. The car built by German students is over twenty-five times more efficient! Take that, Elon!

It’s pretty amazing what students are coming up with these days on the automotive/energy front.

A team of students from Switzerland called the Academic Motorsports of Zurich (AMZ) created the fastest-accelerating electric vehicle in the world. It goes zero to 62 mph in just nine-tenths of a second. This is big because the perception that electric cars are slow or lack oomph is one of the barriers to getting more on the road, despite their many health and environmental benefits.

AMZ - World Record! 0-100 km/h in 0.956 seconds

A student was also responsible for a massive breakthrough in the battery space. In 2016, University of California Irvine doctoral student Mya Le Thai accidentally created a rechargeable battery that could last 400 years. Whereas the average rechargeable laptop battery lasts 300 to 500 cycles, this nano battery easily made it to 200,000 charges in three months, meaning your laptop battery could effectively last 400 years.

So when will the average person get their hands on a car that goes 1600 miles or a battery that lasts four hundred years? The answer is hard to pin down. Commenters on the futurology subreddit discussed the timeline and related issues of bringing these innovations out of the classroom and into the marketplace.

Regarding the immortal battery, user EXSPFXDOG said: “I look at this as solving a big problem in multiple ways! It would eliminate you having to drop 20 grand plus to replace battery car batteries!

tufast eco, ev world record, best ev charge

TUfast Eco

via Technical University of Munich

It may help the power storage issues with solar and wind. And it may keep millions of lithium batteries out of landfills. It seems like scalability may not be a big issue because it could mesh with how we make the millions of batteries currently being made. It also helps save some rainforest destruction for Lithium mining!”

Not everyone was so optimistic, though. “People who make batteries also sell batteries, and they don't want you to have one that lasts forever. Nationalize all battery manufacturing asap,” suggested outtyn1nja

It’s not the worst suggestion. What would need to happen to nationalize battery manufacturing?

Hopefully, some forward-thinking students are working on figuring this out.

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1,201 people just broke a world record. For love.

'Renewing our commitment with our three children by our side and thousands of other married couples made a powerful statement for love.'

Three cheers for love! On Oct. 8, 2016, 1,201 couples  in Kalamazoo, Michigan, all renewed their wedding vows, setting the Guinness World Record for most vow renewals at one time.

Photo via The Associated Press.

The glorious, joy-filled event took place outside Western Michigan University's Heritage Hall and was officiated by Kalamazoo's mayor, Bobby Hopewell.

Mayor Bobby Hopewell. Photo via The Associated Press.


A number of WMU alumni were in attendance, many of whom had been together since they were students.

The WMU Broncos were playing against Northern Illinois at Waldo Stadium that evening, so a lot of alums were already on campus for the game.

Brian Burch and his wife, Angela, were one such couple, also there to renew their vows.

"For Angela and I, the site, the school and the people all shaped our relationship," wrote Burch over direct message on Twitter. "So renewing our vows in the same city where met, were engaged, and got married just made sense. Renewing our commitment with our three children by our side and thousands of other married couples made a powerful statement for love."

The record-breaking event wasn't open to just alumni.

Brian Misner and his wife of 20 years came down with their friends who were alumni and made a day of tailgating, vow renewals, and game time.

"After 20 years, I think my bride was reminded of our actual wedding day," Misner said over Twitter direct message. "[...] We agreed, the weekend as a whole was really great. Perfect memories made."

Guinness World Record official Jimmy Coggings was also in attendance to review marriage certificates and count couples.

At the end of the event, he made it official, declaring WMU the new World Record holder for most vows renewed at one time in one place.

Photo via The Associated Press.

The day ended with renewed-marriage bliss and World Record glory being commemorated with champagne and wedding cake.

Photo via The Associated Press.

And lots of obligatory vow renewal selfies.

Even alumni couples who'd been married 65 years and who had graduated over 60 years ago were having a ball.

Ed and Betty Hartman graduated WMU in 1949 and 1951 respectively. Photo via The Associated Press.

Breaking this kind of love-affirming record is a beautiful thing, especially when you consider that a Census survey shows divorce rates are actually dropping despite the common misconception that half of marriages end in divorce.

Image via iStock.

There are several reasons behind this shift, including that we've become more accepting of "modern families" and more couples are waiting longer to wed.

These 1,201 couples who renewed their vows in Kalamazoo are a testament to love going the distance.

While this record-breaking act of love might not solve any of society's systemic problems, it's certainly a big dose of hope for the future.