The record hunt with Porsche Experience instructor Jens Richter behind the wheel began on the afternoon of January 14, 2025 under difficult external conditions. “Under the extreme continuous load of the drifting Taycan, the ice track deteriorated faster than expected,” says Jens Richter, describing the challenges. “We therefore had to abort the first attempt after around 11 kilometres.”
Previous record significantly exceeded
For the second attempt, the team switched to shorter spikes and took advantage of the fact that the ice temperatures dropped as darkness fell. This attempt was successful: Jens Richter kept the standard Taycan GTS in a controlled drift for a total of 17.503 kilometres or 132 laps using only throttle and steering interventions. With this distance, he secured the world record for the longest uninterrupted drift of an electric car on ice and significantly exceeded the previous record of 14.809 kilometres.
“With our new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title on ice, the Taycan has once again proven its sideways driving qualities,” says Jens Richter. “And this time even with all-wheel drive. The fact that the Taycan GTS can be controlled so well even under extreme conditions speaks volumes for its excellent chassis and balanced performance.”
Under the supervision of an official adjudicator from Guinness World Records, the drive took place on an ice track at the Porsche Arctic Centre in Levi, Finland, around 150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. For the record attempt, the Porsche Experience team had created a drift circle with a diameter of 59 meters. Commercially available Michelin tyres with one-millimetre spikes were mounted on both axles of the Taycan GTS for the successful record attempt.
The vehicle was equipped with a professional GPS measuring device to measure the route precisely. This not only documents the distance travelled but also records the driver's actions such as steering wheel movements, accelerator and braking, and the G-forces acting on the vehicle.
Carl Saville was present as the official adjudicator from Guinness World Records. Immediately afterwards, he presented the record certificate to the driver Jens Richter and to Christian Lehwald, Managing Director of the Porsche Arctic Centre and Head of Porsche Experience and New Platforms at Porsche AG. “Our experiential marketing approach involves always trying out unusual things. In the Porsche Arctic Centre, we find exceptionally good conditions for drifting on ice. With the new Taycan GTS, we have one of the most powerful electric vehicles on the market. So, we were pretty confident that we could break the world record with this combination and accepted the challenge," says Christian Lehwald.
High up and in circles for a long time: the other GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title of the Taycan
With the new best performance, the electric sports car holds four record certificates: in 2023, Porsche set another GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title with the Taycan Cross Turismo along the Xinjiang-Tibet route. At 5,573 metres, the model mastered the greatest altitude change by an electric car.
In 2021, racing driver Leh Keen accelerated a Porsche Taycan to 165.1 km/h in an exhibition hall in New Orleans, Louisiana. He thus set the record for the fastest speed driven by a vehicle in an enclosed building. And in 2020, Porsche Experience instructor Dennis Retera drifted exactly 210 laps in a Taycan at the Porsche Experience Centre (PEC) Hockenheimring, covering 42.171 kilometres in 55 minutes.
About the Porsche Experience
The Porsche Experience is a global program that offers unique driving experiences in the areas of Travel (luxurious and inspiring trips), Track (adrenaline-filled driving experiences on racetracks) and Ice (fascinating driving dynamics on ice and snow) - always characterised by performance, precision and pure driving pleasure.
The Porsche Ice Experience has been in Finnish Lapland since 1996, and in Levi since 2014. Winter sports the Porsche way have found many fans since then: over 1,500 participants every year train their vehicle control on snow and ice slopes in Finland and enjoy a varied supporting program.
The Porsche Arctic Centre area covers an area of 300,000 square metres and offers optimal practice opportunities in the four training levels Discover, Learn, Boost and Race. For the 2025 season, Hermann Tilke, designer of many modern Formula 1 courses, has completely renovated and expanded the track. More information can be found here.
"Enter Electric!“
The Volkswagen Group invites you to find out much more about electromobility with a cross-brand communication campaign. You can find more information about electromobility at Porsche on this Newsroom microsite.
