With Solar Power to the Highest Volcano in the World

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Recording of Friday, May 09, 2025 | The smarter E Europe 2025 | Exhibition Program | Language: English | Duration: 16:27 .

Terran Electric Drive System Achieves World Record for Highest Altitude Ascent with Solar-Powered Vehicle on Atacama Desert Volcano Expedition

Terran Electric Drive System, founded by three childhood friends, embarked on an ambitious project to create a multipurpose electric transport vehicle. Facing initial funding and recognition challenges, they planned a record-setting expedition up Ojos del Salado in Chile—the world's highest volcano—using only solar power for their prototype vehicle. This journey required two months of isolation without grid electricity access. They innovatively integrated solar panels into the vehicle's design to supply energy for both transportation and daily needs like cooking and charging equipment. Their mission contrasted with another team's fossil fuel-based attempt from Porsche, underscoring sustainability differences between renewable resources versus traditional fuels. Despite high-altitude acclimatization challenges, Terran showcased sustainable technology's viability under extreme conditions while minimizing environmental impact compared to conventional methods used by others. The team utilized advanced features such as bidirectional charging within their prototype electric vehicle powered entirely by renewables; this allowed them to cook meals using appliances directly connected to the traction battery without additional sources—a feat including pizza baking at 5,500 meters altitude! Ascending further amidst harsh conditions (thin air/extreme cold), they remained self-sufficient inside warm shelters despite external adversities like strong winds reaching speeds of 100 km/h ultimately setting new world records: ascending nearly 1k+ vertical meters higher than previous achievements sans winches/external aid demonstrated immense potential behind sustainable tech even amid extremes environments - paving way towards future production improvements based upon insights gained throughout said endeavor.

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Patrik Koller
CFO & Founder
DDP Innovation GmbH

Companies and research institutions present pioneering projects on bidirectional charging in Europe. What challenges have been overcome? This session provides valuable insights into successful implementations and demonstrates how various stakeholders are driving the technology forward.

Further Talks of this session:

Speaker

Jakob Zahler
Senior Research Associate
FfE

To Talk

Speaker

Oluwapelumi Egunjobi
Lead Software Engineer
Smart Energy Lab

To Talk

Video is not available.

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