Volkswagen ID. Buzz aspires for a world record

The electric minivan and its driver, famous adventurer Rainer Zietlow, have embarked on a journey across 75 countries. It will take several months to complete, but Volkswagen says the goal is to set a record for the most countries visited in a fully electric car.

Zietlow, 55, plans on visiting both countries adjacent to Germany and lands as far as Australia and New Zealand. He reckons the whole thing will take eight months, and the route will be around 80,000 km (50,000 miles) long. That’s twice the circumference of the Earth measured along the equator.

The ID.Buzz chosen for the adventure is mostly stock and comes equipped with an 86-kWh battery sufficient for 400 km (250 miles) or so per charge. The only addition comes in the form of an AC/DC converter to speed up charging in areas without fast charging stations.

If everything goes according to plan, then the ID.Buzz and its driver will make it into the Guinness Book of Records for visiting the most countries in an EV within a single road trip.

The German adventurer has eight achievements in car travel and as many as 24 collaborations with VW in his portfolio. One of his latest trips was in Canada behind the steering wheel of an ID.4. Zietlow crossed the entire country from East to West only stopping 18 times for a battery refill.