With a Tesla on Mount Everest?!

When considering the purchase of an electric vehicle, one often encounters doubts about its range. In the meantime, however, the mileage per kWh has improved for many electric cars. Many e-car drivers want to prove it and are covering ever longer and more difficult distances with their electric cars. But the Chinese vlogger Trensen Chongqing is thinking even bigger. Together with a friend, he took his Tesla Model Y to the place where even combustion engines fail: the base camp of Mount Everest.  

The two friends and Tesla lovers started their road trip from the Chinese city of Chengdu, some 2,400 km away from the highest mountain in the world. The goal was to reach the base camp of Mount Everest. That is exactly where the core of this special challenge lies. Because of the altitude - and what it means for the atmospheric conditions and the road logistics - no vehicle with a combustion engine has managed it so far.  

Many doubted that the two friends would succeed in such an undertaking with their Teslas. It was "impossible", it was "crazy". But Chongqing and his companion were able to prove everyone wrong when they reached their destination after five days on the road. The two do not deny that at certain times it was a difficult journey. With each kilometre, the roads and terrain became more difficult to navigate.  

But the two cars - Chongqing's Model Y and his friend's Model X - adapted well to the harsh climate and altitude-specific conditions on Mount Everest. The key to their success? According to the Tesla drivers, the journey was made possible largely by the Tesla Supercharger Network, which already has more than 8,700 charging stations in China alone. Even on the remote route to North Base Camp, the travellers were able to stop nine times to charge the vehicles. Efficiency and range capabilities were also demonstrated by the Teslas when the cars were able to cover around 260 km per charge.   

Although naturally favoured by driving one of the most successful e-SUVs, Chongqing and his fellow traveller demonstrated that electric cars can do just as much as conventional cars - if not much more. At the same time, they also confirmed the role that charging infrastructure plays in e-mobility. Not only in extreme places like the Himalayas, but also in the everyday life of every e-car driver.  

It is already clear that the charging network must be expanded and optimised in Germany as well. Then electric cars could have a real chance to play out their advantages over the more environmentally harmful combustion engines.