Overlanding via an electric vehicle is still a nascent endeavor, but Nissan has decided to mount an extremely ambitious all-electric journey in the new all-electric Ariya SUV by driving it halfway around the world – north to south.
Called the Pole to Pole Expedition, Nissan’s U.K. team of Chris Ramsey and his wife Julie will drive a lightly modified Ariya SUV from the magnetic north pole to its counterpart in Antarctica, a distance of 27,000 kilometers or over 16,700 miles. The Ariya is not yet available in the U.S. market.
The Pole To Pole route will pass through 14 countries total, including Canada, the U.S., and countries in Central and South America. Chris Ramsey said they expect the journey to take ten months. The team will get some help in the frozen North from Arctic Trucks. He didn’t say how the team planned to deal with one well-known and potentially dangerous obstacle: The Darien Gap, which has only been crossed a handful of times by vehicles of any kind and has no established roadways.
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Chris Ramsey is a Guinness World Record holder for the furthest distance traveled on an e-bike in a 12-hour period. He went nearly 181 miles and is an advocate of moving transportation to electric technologies. In a video for the expedition, he says that if they succeed, they will be the first to drive pole to pole in any kind of car, let alone an electric model.
Changes to the Ariya include 39-inch BF Goodrich tires and related suspension modifications to support the bigger wheels and tires. Larger tire wells and fender skirts were also added. A special drone port added to the roof allows for easy launching of the remotely piloted camera platform. Chris apparently has a small coffee addiction, and Nissan says an espresso maker has also been installed in the Ariya. They also have equipment to monitor the weather.
Otherwise, Nissan says the car will be largely stock, including a stock battery and drive train. Ariya EVs have all-wheel drive as standard, and the car can go just over 300 miles on a charge as stock, which raises an obvious concern: Where do you charge an E.V. in the Arctic and Antarctic? Nissan says the Ariya will tow a custom renewable energy pack in the frozen zones that include a wind turbine and solar panels. The team plans to charge the car while resting.
“We are doing something that has never been attempted before, a world-first, and ultimately that is what makes it so exciting.” Julie Ramsey said in a Nissan press release.
