With their own solar-powered e-mobile on the 6,893-meter-high volcano: Swiss summiteers set out to break the world altitude record

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For Engadine brothers Patrik (29) and David Koller (31) and their Unterländer colleague David Pröschel (32), the relief is as great as the tension. Your Aebi rover, Terren (Roman for earth), converted into a solar-powered electric vehicle, has been dispatched and headed for Chile. This means the first phase of the Peak Evolution project has been successfully completed, and the quest for a world altitude record for the adventurous trio has reached its final stage after more than four years of preparation.

The trio admit that the conversion of the Aebi VT450 diesel-based vehicle, which they carried out entirely on their own initiative, into an electric vehicle with two electric motors for a total of 380 hp and a mobile solar power plant, was much more complicated than expected. But despite several setbacks, the young summit participants finally made it through thanks to great persistence and also the support of many sponsors and patrons. With massive torque and extra-large 42-inch wheels, your all-wheel drive and four-wheel steering Terren can climb grades of up to 100 percent. And with a total weight of ten tonnes (curb weight 4 tonnes, payload 6 tonnes), the solar-powered electric vehicle has more towing power than an average 40-tonne semi-trailer.

The vehicle is currently on its way to Chile

Looking back at the intense development period of the rover, Patrik Koller says, “We were constantly faced with new problems.” “It took an incredibly frustrating bureaucratic journey through many authorities to finally get our Terrain legal this spring.” And technically everything had to be adjusted, improved and optimized. Be it complex vehicle propulsion, a solar charging system or more mundane components such as a crane. “A reliable vehicle requires a lot of effort, which we greatly underestimated,” he summarizes. “But right now we are very pleased.” Thanks to the great support of international logistics partner Gebrüder Weiss from Altenrhein SG, the expedition vehicle is now safely on its way to Chile, the starting point of the climb to the world’s highest active volcano.

The vehicle is ready to go; So is the trio of adventurers? “Due to the complex vehicle development work, unfortunately we did not have as much time as we had hoped to work on our own off-road capabilities,” says David Koller. «We and the three cameramen accompanying us are currently training intensively and will be leaving for Chile in just over two weeks. “We will spend about four weeks in Laguna Verde, at 4,700 meters above sea level, at the foot of Ojos del Salado, to acclimate ourselves to the unusual altitude through various expeditions,” explains experienced Swiss climbers. “Then we feel ready for the mountain and our adventure,” explains experienced Swiss climbers David Pröschel. “On a perfectly sunny day in the Atacama Desert, we can almost fully charge the propulsion battery,” says Pröschel.

to the edge of the crater in about five days.

The keyword is a sunny day: Of course, a successful record attempt requires the cooperation of not only reliable vehicle technology and good physical condition of those reaching the summit, but also weather conditions. The time window is relatively narrow. Successfully climbing the Ojos del Salado volcano is only possible from November to January. If the weather conditions and expectations are suitable in December, the record attempt will begin at the Camp Atacama base camp, which is 5,200 meters above sea level. Slowly, over about five days, the terren, fed by the energy it receives from the solar panels it carries, will climb to the rim of the 6,893-meter-high crater, thus breaking a new world altitude record for any type of vehicle. So far this is 6,688 meters.

Of course, there is also an economic idea behind this adventure. Three innovative Swiss inventors want to capitalize on their experience of converting their terrens and commercialize the idea of ​​converting from diesel to environmentally friendly solar-electric operation for heavy agricultural machinery in mountainous agricultural areas. “Especially following our expedition, we are examining a possible small series of converted vehicles,” says Patrik Koller. “On the other hand, we plan to develop a vehicle platform on which they can develop and produce new electric vehicles, which we plan to offer under our Terren Electric Drive System brand to various manufacturers in the off-road sector in the long term. “In a timely and reliable manner, as the market requires.” But first we need to successfully climb Chile’s highest volcano in more than two months.

Source: Blick