Normally, road trips cost a pretty penny, but one man recently proved that it's possible to drive from New York to Miami and back without spending a dime.
Michael Fritts, from Herkimer, New York, drove nearly 2,600 miles in his Tesla Motors Model S, an electric car that uses no gas, and re-charged his vehicle for free at 10 charging stations along the way, WKTV reports. The former truck driver left his wallet at home and set off for his road trip with a cooler full of food, vowing not to spend a cent.
Fritts -- who slept in the car's trunk while his vehicle was charging -- told Time Warner Cable News that he hoped his trip would bring greater attention to the capabilities of electric vehicles. But there was also another, much more personal reason behind the journey: This week marks the 10-year anniversary of his mechanical heart valve surgery.
"I wanted to celebrate the success of that by doing something special and fun and I also wanted to celebrate this wonderful vehicle," Fritts told WKTV.
He says he plans to submit his journey, which took less than three days to accomplish, to Guinness World Records as the fastest solo drive in an electric vehicle.
In January, Model S owner John Glenney and his daughter Jill made a cross-country trip from New York to Los Angeles, racking up 3,619 miles on their electric car. They recharged their vehicle at 28 of Tesla's Supercharger stations.
Last year, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an initiative, called Charge NY, to expand the state's electric vehicle market by building 3,000 public and workplace charging stations and putting "up to 40,000 plug-in vehicles on the road by 2018."
Clarification: Language has been added to more clearly indicate that Michael Fritts traveled from New York to Miami and back, and that the food in the car was in a cooler.