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Electric Car Climbs Up An Altitude Of 5,000 Metres To Set A New Guinness World Record
The NIO ES8 holds the Guinness World Record title as 'the highest altitude achieved by an electric car'. The NIO ES8 climbed the Purog Kangri glacier, Tibet at an altitude of 5,715.28 metres (18,751 feet) driven by Chen Haiyi from China.
The record attempt took place on the 24th of September 2018, but Guinness officially recognised it as a world record only recently. The electric car battled temperatures of up to five degrees below zero and was still able to achieve the world record.
NIO Inc., a Chinese electric car manufacturer attempted the world record to mainly showcase the reliability and capabilities of an electric SUV. It also showcased energy supply at high altitudes and extremely cold climate conditions. The record attempt was also a way to highlight the company's problem-solving ability in extreme climates.
Apart from the company itself, NIO aimed to achieve the world record to prove that even electric cars can go as far as conventional petrol or diesel-powered vehicles. The support team during the record attempt even setup electric charging stations along its route to encourage drivers to use EVs.
The NIO ES8 is the first electric car ever to reach the Purog Kangri glacier. A spokesperson from NIO stated, "We hope that in the future, all electric vehicle owners can go to Tibet to travel. As a result, it is also beneficial to our environment."
Also, the NIO ES8 was driven to the glacier without any modification being done. As the car is electric, the ES8 is unaffected by changing air pressures with increasing altitudes. Conventional cars are usually modified as low air pressure doesn't allow combustion engines to work efficiently. With the air getting thinner with increasing altitude, conventional cars cannot draw in enough air to get the right mixture to ignite the fuel properly.
Purog Kangri is situated in Tibet and is said to be the world's third largest glacier after the south and north pole. It is an ice field covering a total area of 422 square kilometres and was discovered in 2009. Purog Kangri is said to have extremely even surfaced with glaciers, lakes and deserts all coexisting together.
The world record for 'the highest altitude by car' is held by Chileans Gonzales Bravo and Eduardo Canales in 2007. The pair drove to an altitude of 6,688m or 21,942 feet using a modified Suzuki Samurai. The two drivers drove over the Ojos Del Salado Volcano in Atacama, Chile.
Thoughts On The Guinness World Record By An Electric Car
The world record attempt was made to highlight the fact that electric car technologies have been improving so much that they can now travel almost everywhere. The record attempt also showcased the reliability and capabilities of electric cars and their usage in the future.
Source: Guinness World Records
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