- Guinness World Records presented a certificate at IAA Transportation 2026 for most countries visited by a battery-powered EV.
- TÜV Nord certified the ID.Buzz's high-voltage battery at 95.75 percent state of health after the journey.
- The record van is an ID.Buzz Pro with an 86-kWh net battery.
A Volkswagen ID.Buzz has driven itself into the record books after a 445-day loop around the planet that covered 92 countries on six continents. Long-distance driver Rainer Zietlow rolled back into Hanover, Germany, on September 14, closing out 99,767 kilometers (62,036 miles) behind the wheel of a stock, long-wheelbase electric van.
Guinness World Records representative Lena Kuhlmann presented the certificate at IAA Transportation 2026, recognizing the "Most countries visited in a continuous journey by a battery powered electric vehicle." It is the ninth Guinness record Zietlow has earned in a vehicle from Volkswagen.
Gallery: Volkswagen ID. Buzz World Tour
How The Trip Held Up
Zietlow left Hanover on July 1, 2025, from the same customer center where the ID.Buzz is built, and spent the next 16 months crossing deserts, mountains, and major cities on every continent. The trip included more than 300 charging stops and 16 sea crossings by container ship, according to Volkswagen.
The company says the van finished the entire route without a single technical breakdown, a detail Zietlow calls the defining result of the tour. Germany's TÜV Nord inspected the ID.Buzz before and after the journey and certified the high-voltage battery at 95.75 percent state of health on its return.
"I had no technical problems. For me, that is the decisive point," Zietlow said in an interview at IAA Transportation. He added that avoiding fuel contamination and overheating risks tied to diesel engines made the electric van easier to run across unpredictable terrain.
The record-setting van was a Volkswagen ID.Buzz Pro with the long wheelbase, using an 86-kWh net battery rated for up to roughly 300 to 309 miles of WLTP range. Its DC fast-charging tops out at 200 kilowatts, enough for a 10 to 80 percent charge in under 30 minutes. Volkswagen's electric van lineup has been gaining traction elsewhere too, with global ID.Buzz sales doubling in 2025.
What Zietlow Learned About Charging
Ninety-two countries and 300-plus charging stops gave Zietlow a firsthand read on how unevenly EV infrastructure has spread. "In countries such as Zambia or Tanzania, there was simply nothing available," he said, adding that he had to charge at national substations under supervision in parts of Africa.
Other markets surprised him. South Africa, Morocco, and Rwanda already have workable charging networks, he said, while Saudi Arabia went from having "not many charging stations three years ago" to conditions Zietlow compares with Germany today.
Brazil and Chile are advancing quickly in South America, according to Zietlow, and he described China as being "in a league of its own," where electric mobility is simply part of daily life. He called the overall infrastructure picture "very mixed" but improving fast in most regions.
Looking ahead, Zietlow expects the shift toward electric power to accelerate further as battery technology improves. "If the solid-state battery arrives at some point, along with very fast hyper-charging, then a great deal more will be possible," he said.
Motor1's Take: This trip is a reminder that vehicle hardware is often ahead of the grid. The ID.Buzz made it home without a breakdown; the real bottleneck was finding a plug in the right place.
For buyers, the takeaway is simple. Modern EVs can handle long mileage if you plan your stops, but where you live still matters more than what you drive.
