Rainer Zietlow has been honoured with a new Guinness World Record for 'most countries visited in a continuous journey by a battery powered electric vehicle'.
Driving the all-electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz with long wheelbase, Zietlow returned from his circumnavigation of the globe after 445 days, 92 countries, and 99,767km.
Zietlow set off in the summer of 2025 from the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles customer centre in Hanover, Germany. Since then, the route has taken the ID. Buzz, running on standard-production tyres, across six continents. The journey took Zietlow through major cities, deserts and mountain ranges, with more than 300 charging cycles under the most varied climatic conditions and 16 crossings by container ship.
The ID. Buzz completed the entire world tour without a single technical breakdown. Following its return, the vehicle was certified with a high-voltage battery state-of-health of 95.75 per cent.
