A Nissan Ariya has become the first car to drive from pole-to-pole

Worry that you won’t be able to make it from London to Manchester in an electric car? Well, husband and wife adventuring team Chris and Julie Ramsey have just made that range test rather trivial, because they’ve driven a Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE from the North to the South Pole.

Not on one charge of course, but think of all the regen from doing the trip in that direction…

It did take the pair 10 months to cover 18,600 miles mind, with the route starting on the frozen Arctic Sea. They then drove south through North, Central and South America, before finishing up with what we imagine was a leisurely amble through Antarctica. Hope they had a decent playlist.

The Ariya apparently used a completely standard powertrain and battery but was modified by Arctic Trucks to accommodate 39-inch BF Goodrich off-road tyres. Oh, and did we mention that no car had ever completed the pole-to-pole journey before?

“I can’t believe we’re at the South Pole,” said Chris. “After so many years of planning, it doesn’t feel real. I’ve always had full confidence in the amazing capabilities of electric vehicles, and I knew our Nissan Ariya would tackle everything thrown at it. But it’s been far tougher than I anticipated.”