German EV Driver Zietlow Going for World Record

By Katherine Hamilton
UCM Intern for Townsquare Sedalia

German driver Reiner Zietlow is attempting to achieve the Guinness world certification for the most countries traveled in an electric vehicle and paid one of his sponsors, Maxion Wheels Sedalia, a special visit. KSIS was able to get an exclusive interview with the man himself.

Zietlow is attempting to travel to 75 countries in an electric Volkswagen ID Buzz. Currently, he has been to 62 countries and travelled and driven approximately 60,000 Kilometers and plans to be finished and back in Germany by September 14th. Sedalia is the furthest west Zietlow has travelled in the United States. Tuesday, May 26th, he was kind enough to answer a few questions from KSIS.

Zietlow is a record-breaking, long-distance driver, but what got him into long-distance driving?

“When I was 18, you know, very young, and I had my driving license for just six weeks. One of my friends, his father was selling cars in Africa. So we crossed the Sahara Desert two times, and since I saw the desert, the full desert, the Sahara Desert, there is like Sahara means the ocean of sand. So when you see that sand ocean, then it got me, and I said, ‘this is something I would like to do’,” Zietlow said.

From there, Zietlow partnered with McDonald's in 1996 to drive around the world. In 2005, he started a business attempting to break records involving cars and driving.

Currently, Zietlow is spending a lot of time in the ID Buzz. KSIS wanted to know how he was feeling about the vehicle.

“Very proud of, because it's a very important car for VW, and they have it on sale here, in the US, and it has an okay range, it's 400 kilometers or like 270/280 miles. Goes full electric, a seven seater,” Zietlow said, “It's a nice car, so it's kind of a thing now, driving without any engine, without any petrol around the world. Not many people have done this.”

There have been a few difficulties along the journey. Zietlow explained the car weighs 3 tons because of the energy converter needed to power the vehicle. This weight is difficult for the tires to support. Another challenge is finding a way to charge the car in locations that do not have frequent electric vehicle charging stations. The vehicle can go approximately two hours before needing a charge, but in certain situations, there is no station within those two hours. In parts of Africa, Zietlow was allowed to charge the vehicle using substations.

Zietlow attempts to divide his time between the road and his home life 50/50. He often flies home when his vehicle is being transported across oceans.

When asked about his sleep schedule, Zietlow explains he is able to nap when the car is charging and sleep when his co-driver and cameraman drives.

Zietlow has been driving electric vehicles since 2019. He explains that electric vehicles could become more popular with the new generation of drivers.

“The new generation Z, you know, the new people coming up now, like 15, 16, I think, have a completely different view on mobility as we had, and my father had, you know. So, of course, some regions are different, that's clear, you know, and but there's one point. It's called, zero emission. There's no, you know, so that's really a hard fact. It's a hard fact. Okay, but I mean, to produce power, it always has some steam and so on, but what counts in the big cities is like, there's no pollution. And that's a good thing. And you can recuperate. Don't forget, when you drive New York City, and you brake with your electric engine, it goes back into the battery, you know? It's kind of a good thing,” Zietlow stated.

Even while spending hours on the road, Zietlow stated he does not get bored.

“There's so many things to do to organize, you know, to think about. It's not like a truck driver, where you just go, and you know. So there's many things we have to organize. I'm a kind of a one-man show, so many things go through my mind, and that means it's just flying. Time is flying more or less,” Zietlow explained.

Sedalia is on Zietlow’s radar because the town is a location for one of his sponsors, Maxion Wheels. While not familiar with Sedalia specifically before this trip, Zietlow actually had previous knowledge of Kansas City, Missouri.

“The funny thing is, one of my cameramen, I've done the Alaska drive with in '94, was from Kansas City, Missouri. Not Kansas City, Kansas, but Kansas City, Missouri, is very important for him. And we went to this barbecue food, you know, the famous one in Kansas City. So I have kind of a relation to this area, but not so much to this town here. But now I have. Now I know where it is.”

Zietlow said he has enjoyed his stay in Sedalia and has been supported, even getting a chance to view a movie at Galaxy Theater.

Get our free mobile app

From here, Zietlow is heading south towards Mexico. He mentioned he is excited to visit Argentina and that he enjoyed the steak dish called Lomo the last time he was there.

To keep up with Zietlow and see how the journey is going, you can go to

www.idbuzz-worldtour.com. The website includes thousands of pictures of the various locations Zietlow has visited and a GPS tracker that updates every 15 minutes of Zietlow’s travel.

In the top photo: Reiner Zietlow speaks to Maxion employees in Sedalia on Tuesday morning about his journey and the VW he is traveling around the world in. Maxion Wheels, 3610 West Main, is one of his sponsors. All employees were decked out in matching yellow T-shirts made just for this occasion.