Hankook-supported VW ID.4 tour gains Guinness World Records title

Guinness World Records has acknowledged the Hankook Tire-supported ‘Volkswagen ID.4: Great Roadshow through the U.S.’ as the longest continuous journey by an electric vehicle (non-solar) in a single country. The 35,000-mile trip took place between 13 July and 18 October. The team’s VW ID.4 visited all 48 contiguous US states in all-electric mode, thereby breaking the previous record that was set in 2019.

Long-distance driver Rainer Zietlow, who had been a part of the ‘Volkswagen ID.3 Germany Tour’ last year, joined again and was accompanied by photographer Derek Collins. Hankook Tire, which supplied tyres to last year’s tour of Germany, supported the success of the USA tour by fitting its Kinergy AS EV tyres in size 235/55R19 on the front and 255/50R19 on the rear.

The tour started at VW headquarters in Herndon, Virginia where it made its way through the northern part of the USA to the West Coast. The VW ID.4 visited 622 Volkswagen dealerships and three Hankook Tire dealerships along the way. It also visited the Hankook Tennessee Plant in Clarksville, Tennessee before crossing back via a southern route to reach Volkswagen Group of America’s Virginia facility as its final destination. The travellers made 208 stops at charging stations by the time the tour ended.

Upon arrival at the last stop, Guinness World Records announced that the team had gained the title for the longest continuous journey by electric vehicle (non-solar) in a single country. It broke the previous record set by Volkswagen ID.3 Germany Tour by more than doubling the driven mileage.

A testament to car & tyre reliability

“Breaking this record is a testament to the reliability of the VW ID.4 and Hankook’s Kinergy AS EV tyres, which provided low rolling resistance and enabled me to stop at fewer charging stations and drive this tour with confidence,” said Rainer Zietlow, driver and founder of Challenge4. “From the desert terrain in Nevada to the heavy rain in Oregon and windy parts of the Midwest, Hankook’s Kinergy AS EV tyres provided the grip I needed and superior stability and handling making their performance imperative to the success of this tour.”

“As a long-term Challenge4 and Volkswagen tyre partner, Hankook Tire is very proud to be part of the record-breaking moment and we would like to congratulate the team on this new accomplishment,” said Sooil Lee, president and chief executive officer of Hankook Tire & Technology. “Understanding that this journey would require tyres that can withstand the most diverse conditions across different parts of the country, we were confident about taking on this role with our EV-dedicated tyre as it’s capable of providing exceptional grip and handling as well as improved durability with low rolling resistance.”

Their journey has been chronicled at vwid4-usatour.com, where visitors to the website can view images and a map highlighting the path of the tour.