The Electric 'Boozer' Car Goes the Distance Without a Single Drink

The latests in electric vehicle (EV) technology is the epitome of the saying slow and steady wins the race -- at least for now. Though the German engineered EV nicknamed "Boozer" only goes 28 miles per hour, it went further than any EV on a single charge.

Created in collaboration with Germany’s University of Applied Sciences in Offenburg and other academic groups, Schluckspecht, which in German means "heavy drinker," was able to go 1,013 miles  in 36 hours on a single charge. That's huge compared to EVs available to the public like the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf, which go 100 miles or less. According to Popular Science, Boozer even beat the previous record of the Mira EV, which was created by the Japan Electric Vehicle Club in 2010 and went 623.23 miles in 27.5 hours on a single charge.

Although Boozer only seats one, making it a poor option for the average person's use, the technology could be translated for future EVs, according to Popular Science:

Instead of an internal engine and transmission, the car has two wheel-mounted hub motors, which the Schluckspecht team first developed five years ago.

. . .

Engineers at the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics built the car’s featherweight chassis [700 pounds according to Consumerist], designed especially for EVs. The car has 14 lithium-cobalt battery packs, providing 23 kilowatt-hours of battery capacity. It moves at just 28 MPH, but the tradeoff is stamina — a major hurdle for electric vehicles in this country and Europe.

But how did Boozer get it's name, especially if it runs on a battery? Boozer was named after the gas-guzzling, first car developed by this team in 1998. The same team has been building prototypes for more than a decade.

[H/T Consumerist]