More Teslas make electric migration

Last week, the father-daughter team of John and Jill Glenney completed the first cross-country drive in a Tesla using the company's new network of Superchargers to refuel.

Yesterday, a pair of Tesla Model S sedans driven by a rotating squadron of 15 company employees set what they hope will be an electric record for cross-country travel. That team arrived in New York City Sunday morning Feb. 2, three days after they left Tesla's facility in Hawthorne, Calif.

“Tesla LA to NY Supercharger rally just completed in 76 hours across northern route in dead of winter thru heavy snow!” said CEO Elon Musk via Twitter, his favorite means of communicating with the outside world.

Neither snow, nor more snow, nor ice kept teh Teslas from crossing the country.

The runs celebrated the completion of Tesla's cross-country Supercharger network, a string of high-speed electric recharging stations. The stations are close enough together that a Model S with a range of over 250 miles can play connect the dots from sea to shining sea. There are now more than 70 Tesla Superchargers in the U.S. and 85 worldwide, offering free charging for Teslas and only Teslas. (Don't show up in a Leaf.)

The employee run covered 3,464.5 miles and encountered two snowstorms, one of which closed down the Interstate and forced the team onto secondary roads. But a little luck and a lot of electricity (1,197.8 kWh) saw them through. The two team cars were driven over the finish line by Tesla staffers Sara Eslinger and Jalpan Patel, pictured at top in front of New York City Hall. Tesla CTO JB Straubel was on board for the final leg from Newark, Del., to New York City, where the team was greeted by Musk.

One of the Teslas, all clean, before it left Hawthorne.

Expect a faster time come spring, when some Tesla enthusiast is likely to take advantage of the warmer weather and clearer roads to drop the record even lower. However, it's unlikely they'll get under the (unofficial) cross-country record of 28 hours 50 minutes, set by three guys in a Mercedes full of gas tanks last October.

By Mark Vaughn