World record for VW ID.4: Electric car almost reaches the top of a volcano

• Volkswagen can look forward to an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
• Adventurer Rainer Zietlow climbed an altitude of 5,816 meters in an electric car.
• The team was accompanied by a service vehicle.

Despite all-wheel drive – the VW ID.4 GTX is not an off-road vehicle. Nevertheless, Volkswagen can be happy about a prestigious world record: The electric car conquered the world’s highest, still passable mine road on the volcano Cerro Uturuncu in Bolivia.

Apparently there were no rougher off-road passages to deal with. The 6,008 meter high volcano is considered easy to climb. There is even a skiable slope that leads up to 600 meters from the summit. However, the route to the foot of the volcano is considered logistically tricky, especially for an electric car.

Technically, the VW ID.4 GTX differed primarily in a special underbody protection from Bertrandt to avoid damage to the production vehicle. The world record was set on May 18th. The official certificate from the Guinness Book of Records was presented on May 23 at the German Embassy in La Paz.

“Our goal was to show that electric mobility is capable of top performance even at extreme altitudes,” said the adventurer Zietlow, who is supporting a Bolivian children’s village with the ride, afterwards.

At the end of last year, two activists also performed at the electromobile world record drive. The trip across the USA should prove or check whether solar cells on e-bikes are practical.