Ultimate eCar Test Run Across Germany Sets New Record After 65 Days and 28,198 KM

• The team set a new mark for the Guinness Book of Records, for the longest continuous electric vehicle journey through a single country.
• Zietlow and Brüner covered a total of 28,198 kilometers on their journey across Germany. 
• The trip’s main goal was to carry out an intensive test of Germany’s domestic charging infrastructure.
• The pair tested around 652 charging stations offering in excess of 60kW.  

Zietlow, from Mannheim in Germany, reflects on the trip with both pride and elation: “Everywhere we went, people were curious. They wanted to know more about eMobility – we were answering questions from start to finish. The hunger for information is as strong as ever – and I think it’s time we shake off our old ‘combustion’ habits and make a definitive move towards climate-neutral mobility. The sector is ready: both the VW ID.3 Pro S and the charging infrastructure came through this realistic test with flying colours.”

But with the growing number of new eCar models available and the increased investment auto manufacturers are making, Zietlow is firmly convinced of the next challenge: “The charging infrastructure needs to start growing rapidly if it is to meet the eMobility market’s future needs – the moment when demand is so high that the industry will have no choice but to accelerate charging infrastructure expansion is very close.”

Germany already boasts over 30,000 public charge points – and a touch over 12,000 of those run on be.ENERGISED, has·to·be’s market-leading cloud software.

A Borderless eMobility Future 

“The new era began some time ago!” declared Zietlow in a panel discussion with has·to·be early last month. Germany is ready for eMobility, but eMobility service providers still face the task of ensuring reliable, accessible charging – especially in neighboring countries. A long-distance test like the ID.3 Deutschlandtour could also be carried out at a European level, with a specific focus on electric travel throughout the continent. And while Zietlow hasn’t yet made any concrete plans for such a test, he certainly considers it a possibility. has·to·be shares his conviction that interoperability in the publicly accessible charging infrastructure is something that cannot be sidestepped if widespread customer acceptance is to be achieved. That’s why the company is continuing to work towards as straightforward and customer-friendly a multi-operator European charging landscape as possible. Interoperability, simple charging, and a positive customer experience are all very closely connected.

“Electric driving can’t suddenly stop just because you cross a border,” says has·to·be CEO Martin Klässner. “We’re getting ever closer to our vision of eMobility right across Europe. Rainer Zietlow has helped in a big way by proving that eMobility will soon be part of everyday life in Germany – our congratulations go to him on his world record! If Rainer decides to test out the entire European charging infrastructure at some point in the future, we’d love to support him once again.”

Access Europe’s largest charging network with eMSP.OPERATION 

With be.ENERGISED eMSP.OPERATION, has·to·be offers its clients access to Europe’s largest charging network with a single charging card. To be precise, that’s the card held by the customer – there’s no need for individual roaming contracts and time-consuming billing processes with individual charging station operators. All of which means nothing stands in the way of borderless eMobility in Europe. has·to·be clients enjoy transparent aggregated billing, favorable tariffs, and standardised processes. Meanwhile the network across the continent – already boasting over 180,000 charge points – continues to grow.

More about the ID.3 Deutschlandtour 

The crew set off from Germany’s southernmost hotel near Oberstdorf at around 2 pm on 28th September and completed their journey 65 days later at the country’s northernmost parking lot, west of List on the island of Sylt. A highlight of the trip was the team’s stop at the SOS Kinderdorf in Bernburg/Saale, to whose housing project Rainer Zietlow donated €2500. Zietlow and his team shared daily updates from their trip on http://www.id3-deutschlandtour.com/

Partners for the marathon include ADS-TEC, Alpitronic, CAR-connect, E. ON Drive, Hankook Reifen, has·to·be gmbh, Infineon Technologies, MOON, Steigenberger Hotels, Tank & Rast Gruppe, We Charge and Volkswagen AG.