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Porsche has achieved a new Guinness World Records™ title for the longest continuous drift on ice by an electric vehicle. Driving a Taycan GTS, Porsche instructor Jens Richter completed 132 laps in controlled oversteer, covering 17.503 kilometers (10.88 miles) in 46 minutes. This marks the fourth world record for the electric sports car, solidifying its reputation for performance and agility under extreme conditions.
Key Highlights:
- New world record: 17.503 km of uninterrupted drifting on ice, surpassing the previous record of 14.809 km.
- Challenging conditions: Ice track deterioration forced the first attempt to be aborted, but cooler nighttime temperatures allowed for a successful second attempt.
- Precision driving: Achieved using only throttle and steering adjustments, showcasing the Taycan GTS’s exceptional chassis control.
- Professional verification: The record was supervised by Guinness World Records™ at the Porsche Arctic Center in Levi, Finland.
- High-performance setup: The Taycan GTS was equipped with Michelin tires featuring one-millimeter spikes for optimal grip.
Breaking Records in Extreme Conditions
The record-breaking attempt took place on January 14, 2025, at the Porsche Arctic Center, located 150 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Despite difficult ice conditions, the team adjusted their approach by switching to shorter spikes and using the dropping nighttime temperatures to their advantage.
Jens Richter described the challenge: “Under the extreme continuous load of the drifting Taycan, the ice track deteriorated faster than expected. We had to abort the first attempt after around 11 kilometers.” However, during the second attempt, Richter successfully drifted 132 laps within a 59-meter diameter drift circle, breaking the previous record by nearly 3 kilometers.
Guinness World Records™ official adjudicator Carl Saville was present to verify the achievement. Following the successful attempt, he presented the official record certificate to Jens Richter and Christian Lehwald, Managing Director of the Porsche Arctic Center and Head of Porsche Experience and New Platforms at Porsche AG.
A Legacy of Guinness World Records
With this latest achievement, the Porsche Taycan now holds four Guinness World Records™ titles:
- Longest drift on ice by an EV (2025): 17.503 km.
- Greatest altitude change by an EV (2023): Taycan Cross Turismo climbed 5,573 meters along the Xinjiang-Tibet route.
- Fastest speed in an enclosed building (2021): 165.1 km/h, driven by Leh Keen in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Longest continuous drift by an EV (2020): 42.171 km over 210 laps at the Porsche Experience Center in Germany.
Porsche Experience: Mastering Performance on Ice
The Porsche Experience is a global program offering high-performance driving experiences in various environments, including racetracks, luxurious travel routes, and extreme ice conditions. The Porsche Ice Experience, operating in Finnish Lapland since 1996, has become a premier training ground for enthusiasts looking to enhance their car control skills on snow and ice.
Located in Levi, Finland, the Porsche Arctic Center spans 300,000 square meters and features four training levels: Discover, Learn, Boost, and Race. In preparation for the 2025 season, world-renowned Formula 1 track designer Hermann Tilke has redesigned and expanded the facility, ensuring even greater driving challenges and precision training for participants.
With this latest record-breaking achievement, the Taycan GTS continues to prove its dominance as a high-performance electric sports car, capable of excelling in extreme conditions while setting new benchmarks in the automotive world.
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