We, the Turbocharged team has created history by getting into the record books with the following record:
FIRST ELECTRIC CAR TO REACH BOTH THE HOTTEST AND COLDEST INTERNATIONAL BORDERS OF INDIA
“The record for the first electric car to reach India’s hottest and coldest international borders was set by TURBOCHARGED Magazine, Pune, Maharashtra. Driving the Hyundai IONIQ 5, Abhay Verma started from Pune on May 04 to reach the Longewala Border in Rajasthan, India’s hottest border area open to civilians, on May 07, before continuing on to Delhi, The feat restarted from Delhi on September 06 to reach the Siachen Border in Ladakh, India’s coldest border area open to civilians on September 11 and back to Delhi, The car was driven for 6,315 km overall and was charged for 27.5 hours, as confirmed on October 20, 2023.”
This record has been officially recognized by the esteemed record keeping organisation, India Book of Records.
We decided to take the IONIQ 5 to India’s hottest border, Longewala in Rajasthan. This is something that’s never been done before – driving to India’s hottest border in extreme heat, in an electric car. We attempted this record in May since it is the hottest time of the year there, and summers are at their absolute peak – temperatures at Longewala hit 50 degrees Celsius and above. We left Jaisalmer with a full charge and it was more than enough to make it to the Longewala border and back, which is 112km from Jaisalmer. The climate control system was switched on the whole time since the temperature outside was well above 40-degree Celcius. By noon, the temperature hit 44-degree Celcius, but the IONIQ 5 continued to perform flawlessly and we didn’t face any hiccups or drop in performance.
After conquering the hottest border, we then drove the Hyundai IONIQ 5 to Siachen Base Camp, the northernmost point in India open to civilians. It is the first electric car manufactured in India to achieve this feat. Our journey started from Delhi with stops in Ludhiana, Patnitop, Srinagar, Kargil and Leh, before finally reaching the final destination on September 11, 2023. We reached back to Delhi on September 18, 2023.
