Driver sets new world record by driving 1,531 miles on single tank of fuel

A Volkswagen Passat has set a new world record for the furthest distance covered by a car on a single tank of fuel.

The diesel Passat Bluemotion broke the Guinness World Record by covering 1,531 miles – the distance from London to Malaga in Spain – without stopping to refuel.

The four-door car’s average fuel consumption was 90 miles per gallon, significantly higher than the previous record of 64mpg.

The average British driver covering 10,000 miles a year would need to refuel just seven times a year, or once every 52 days.

The driver, Gavin Conway, took 33 hours and 53 minutes at an average speed of 45mph in the standard production passenger car, which had a 1.6 litre engine. Over three days, Mr Conway drove from Maidstone in Kent to the South of France and most of the way back again, before running out of fuel just outside Calais.

Two AA patrolmen followed the entire attempt in their van to witness the journey independently for the world record.