Porsche has reported yet another record set by its Taycan Cross Turismo. The electric wagon spent 10 days ascending a long and winding trail with a record-high altitude variation - more than 5.5 kilometers, or 18,000 feet.
The journey began in China’s point of lowest elevation, Aiding Lake, and culminated at the pinnacle of Hongtu–Daban in Tibet. Two electric vehicles started at 218.845 meters (718 feet) below sea level and ended at 5,355.134 meters (17,569 feet) above sea level.
The route was not for the faint-hearted, spanning 2,783 kilometers (nearly 1,730 miles) and including some of the world’s most challenging stretches of terrain ever called a road. Extreme temperature fluctuations contributed to the hardship.
Rather than sending the wagons on their crusade unprepared, Porsche wisely chose to have a mobile charging station accompanying them at all times. The company pointed out that similar solutions had been used before in remote locations around the world. It also boasted that both drivers noted a considerable power surplus when they descended from a major mountain pass: coming down from over 4,000 meters (13,100 feet), the Taycan wagons had plenty of brake energy to redirect into battery charging.
In the end, the German automaker said the extreme expedition had multiple goals. First, it was meant to demonstrate everyone once again what the Taycan EV is capable of. Second, it was meant to encourage conservatively-minded car owners to stop viewing electric vehicles as short-range and choose EVs more frequently for new driving experiences.