Electric Porsche Taycan drifts for 11 miles on ice to set new world record – and it could

Porsche has just set a new Guinness World Record for a ridiculous stunt undertaken in an electric car.

The German sports car maker used its £117,500 Taycan GTS to perform the longest ever continuous drift on ice in an EV.

Achieved in Lapland on 14 January, Porsche driving instructor Jen Richter completed a continuous powerslide for 17.5 kilometres, which converts to 10.8 miles.

In total, Richter travelled sideways in the Taycan for 46 minutes – equivalent to one half in a football match.

And he could have carried on for longer, had it not been for one major limiting factor that terminated the attempt early – and no, it wasn’t because the battery ran out of range.

While the achievement is a new record for an EV – and the fourth for the Porsche Taycan – it pales in comparison to the longest drift recorded in a combustion-engine car…

Porsche has just set a new Guinness World Record for the longest continuous drift on ice. At almost 11 miles, it beat the previous record by almost 2 miles. But it could have gone of longer…

The previous record for a continuous EV drift on ice was 14.809km (9.202 miles), which Porsche failed to beat at its first attempt.

‘Under the extreme continuous load of the drifting Taycan, the ice track deteriorated faster than expected,’ Richter explained. 

In fact, Porsche’s first effort was aborted earlier than anticipated due to the ice melting.

The original skid carried out during the day (in warmer conditions) lasted for 11km – or 6.8 miles – before the ice began to disappear as it was battered by the fast-spinning spiked snow tyres fitted to the EV.

In a second bid to break the record, Michelin tyres with shorter spikes were used and Richter took the the wheel in the evening, when conditions were somewhat colder. 

He eventually completed 132 laps on the ice ring, with the experienced driver mastering throttle and steering control to maintain oversteer for three quarter of an hour before the ice began to deteriorate again.

Porsche’s first attempt had to be aborted earlier than anticipated due to the ice melting as a result of the temperature, continuous circulations and use of winter tyres with longer spikes. A second run in the evening in cooler conditions saw the record broken

Porsche instructor Jen Richter travelled sideways in the £117,500 Taycan GTS for a total of 46 minutes – equivalent to a half of a football match

An official adjudicator from Guinness World Records looks on as Ritchter performs the continuous ice drift in the EV Porsche

The vehicle was equipped with a professional GPS measuring device to track the route precisely in order for Guinness World Records to rubberstamp the 17.503km distance. 

‘With our new Guinness World Record title on ice, the Taycan has once again proven its sideways driving qualities,’ Richter added. 

‘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.’

The Porsche completed 132 laps on the ice ring, with the experienced driver mastering throttle and steering control to maintain oversteer for three quarter of an hour before the ice began to deteriorate again

The Porsche team celebrate the achievement, setting a fourth world record in the Taycan EV

The Taycan can add the world’s longest ice EV drift to a growing mantle of titles.

In 2023, the Taycan Cross Turismo set a record for an EV driving at the greatest altitude along the 5,573 metre Xinjiang-Tibet route. 

Two years earlier, racing driver Leh Keen accelerated a Porsche Taycan to 165.1kmh (102.6mph) in an exhibition hall in New Orleans, Louisiana – a record speed for any vehicle driven in an enclosed building. 

And in 2020, Porsche instructor Dennis Retera drifted 210 laps in a Taycan at the Porsche Experience Centre at the German Hockenheimring, covering 42.171km (26.2 miles) in 55 minutes.

BMW holds record for longest drift – and it’s HUGE

While the Taycan has the longest EV drifts both on and off ice, it’s a fraction of the record achieved by a combustion engine car.

In 2018, BMW performed a skid for a staggering eight hours.

The marathon stunt, carried out by racing driver Johan Schwartz in an M5 saloon, lasted for 232.5 miles.

BMW’s M5 holds the record for the longest ever recorded drift, which went on for a marathon 235.2 mile and required refuelling during the attempt

To ensure the car could keep skidding, another professional driver drove a second BMW M5 alongside to refuel the record-setting car to ensure it didn’t run out of petrol

Given the need for lots of power and high revs to spin the wheels, the 4.4-litre V8 petrol engine in the big family Beemer – which has a claimed combined fuel economy of 27 miles per gallon -, the fuel tank would have easily ran empty before the hitting the 232.5-mile record.

To ensure the car could keep skidding, another professional driver, Matt Mullins, drove a second BMW M5 alongside Schwartz to refuel the record-setting car to ensure it didn’t run out of petrol.

Incredibly, the car was refuelled five times during the stunt, and averaged a speed of 29mph.

That’s what you call precision driving.