New record from the Turkish record holder: Traveled to 9 countries on a single charge.

Ümit Sabancı, who previously registered his name in the Guinness World Records with two different attempts, has achieved a new record. Sabancı broke the record by traveling to 9 different countries with a single charge battery electric vehicle.

Previously entered into the Guinness World Records, Ümit Sabancı has signed a new record. In 2017, he registered his name in the Guinness World Records by visiting 13 countries in 24 hours, and later in 2022, he broke the record by touring the world in 46 hours and 23 minutes using scheduled passenger flights.

Embarking on a new record attempt, Sabancı set off this time to break the record for visiting the most countries with a single charge battery electric vehicle. He started his journey with Ian Joynson and Mikhail Nahorny in Schilberg, located on the border of the Netherlands and Belgium. Sabancı traveled to a total of 9 countries with a single charge battery, crossing the borders of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Italy in that order. This record was previously set in 2016 by visiting 7 countries with a single charge battery.

There were two different record attempts during the journey. The first leg of the journey, covering a distance of 808 kilometers, was completed in approximately 20 hours in Italy. The first record was achieved when the vehicle reached Villa di Chiavenna in Italy around 1:00 PM the next day. In the second leg of the journey, the record for the longest distance traveled with a single battery charge was broken by going to Como. A total distance of 913 kilometers was traveled, breaking two records.

How does the record certification process work?
To certify the record attempts, documents, photographs, and GPS data were sent to the Guinness World Records. If the examination conducted by the officials finds the attempt suitable, certification will be carried out.

“We managed to cross 9 country borders on a single charge”
After the journey, Ümit Sabancı made statements regarding the issue, saying that they conducted record attempts in two different categories. “The first one is the category of ‘the most countries visited with a single battery charge using an electric vehicle.’ The current record is set in 2016 with a journey to 7 countries using a Tesla S model car. We managed to cross 9 country borders with a single charge in our journey with a Lucid Air electric vehicle. The second record title can be translated as ‘the longest distance traveled with a single battery using an electric vehicle.’ The existing record is 907 kilometers, and we renewed this record to 913 kilometers. We sent the documents, pictures, GPS data, and recordings to the Guinness World Records for both record categories, and now we are waiting for their certification. For this attempt, we used the Lucid Air Grand Touring model produced by Lucid Motors. It is a vehicle with a battery capacity of 112kW. Among the constantly evolving and advancing electric vehicles and battery technologies, it currently has the longest range in the world,” he said.

Sabancı stated, “The purpose of such record attempts is, of course, to cross borders with the shortest journey possible. Therefore, I planned a route starting from a place close to the border, allowing me to pass quickly and easily through each country. It doesn’t matter how much you travel within the country and how long you stay. Our journey started in Schilberg, located on the border between the Netherlands and Belgium. We set off at 17:35 local time. We crossed the borders of 9 countries in the following order: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Italy.”

“We broke two records on the same trip”
Sabancı mentioned that they completed the first leg of the journey, covering a distance of 808 kilometers, in about 20 hours and reached Villa di Chiavenna in Italy around 1:00 PM the next day, stating, “We broke the first record by traveling to 9 countries with a single charge. For the second leg of the journey, we reached Como for the longest distance record at 16:30. We reached a total of approximately 913 kilometers. This was the second record we broke on the same trip. During this 23-hour journey, we changed drivers and took breaks periodically. The Guinness World Records required the same individuals and the same car to complete this journey. A total of 3 people completed the journey in the vehicle,” he said.

Recalling that he had two previous attempts recorded in the Guinness World Records, Sabancı added, “Now I have added two more to this. Conducting record attempts in such detailed planning and preparation is quite enjoyable. Although I do this as a hobby and at the same time to raise donations for cancer research charities, I also see that global brand companies can certify their statements in sales advertisements through this method after this work. We are currently in talks for two different record attempts. I believe we will have another record attempt soon.”