In 2021, professional long-distance driver Rainer Zietlow put in around 57,000 kilometres in a Volkswagen ID.4 in just under 100 days to prove to the world that electric vehicles are decidedly viable for long distances. Supported by HARTING, his e-mobility road trip traversing the USA was crowned with a world record and went down in history books. The original winning car will be part of the “Driving Toward Tomorrow” exhibition series at the Peterson Automotive Museum, LA until the end of the year.
“Our successful E-Mobility Challenge has now reached its crowning pinnacle at the most traditional automobile museum in the United States – and that makes me very proud. Despite tough conditions, we were able to prove that both an electric vehicle and the charging infrastructure in the USA are up to the challenges of a long-distance journey,” as Zietlow stated.
Marco Grinblats, Managing Director of HARTING Automotive GmbH, went on to comment: “As VW’s Tier 1 supplier of charging cables and original equipment manufacturer of the on-board charging cables, we are delighted that such a showcase has now been created for the ID.4 winning car. It is important to make people increasingly aware of the topic of e-mobility reliability. This is the only way we be able work together to reduce CO2 emissions and combat climate change over the long term.”
As long ago as November 2019, the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles had opened the “Driving Toward Tomorrow” multimedia exhibition. It presents the current projects of the automotive industry with regard to the future of transport design. Current concept vehicles developed by selected car manufacturers worldwide are on display here. In different rooms, the focus is on the development of Volkswagen’s modular electric drive.
In the last room, the all-electric ID.4 EV, in which record-breaking driver Rainer Zietlow completed his successful round trip through the USA last year, is now in the spotlight under the title of “Building an Electric Future”.
