The attempt, carried out by a team from The Sunday Times, involved driving from Maidstone in Kent in England to the South of France and back. The Passat BlueMotion finally ran out of fuel close to Calais after completing a distance of 2,456.87 kilometres.
The route mainly followed French autoroutes, but included some town driving, resulting in an average speed of about 73km/h.
In setting the record the Passat BlueMotion travelled a distance equivalent to driving from London to Malaga, without needing to refuel or from New York to Los Angeles with a single stop for diesel.
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