The Gebrüder Weiss, a Swiss logistics company, is the official partner of the Peak Evolution Team. Together, they want to move a solar-powered truck to an altitude of 6,893 meters, a world record.
The world’s highest volcano, a team trying to reach the summit using a solar-powered e-truck, an attempt at a world record: these are the essential components of a high-profile project about to get started in the Chilean Andes. The three men from Switzerland forming the Peak Evolution Team want to conquer the summit of Ojos del Salado using their solar-powered truck specifically developed for this purpose. At a height of 6,893 m, it is the highest active volcano on earth. As the team’s main sponsor and logistics partner, Gebrüder Weiss will considerably contribute to the project’s success. The logistics company has just dispatched the sophisticated vehicle and all the expedition equipment to Chile by sea freight. The next destination after its arrival will be Ojos del Salado. This would be a new world record if the team reaches the summit. Never before has a vehicle climbed that high.
‘Due to its limited payload capacity, this solar-powered vehicle cannot yet replace a conventional truck, but it shows a completely new direction in which we will be able to move with alternative drives in the future,’ says Frank Haas, Head of Corporate Brand Strategy & Communications at Gebrüder Weiss. The solar-powered multi-purpose vehicle has more traction capacity than an average 40-ton semi-truck and could be used mainly in rough terrain. Gebrüder Weiss has already sponsored several projects of this kind. ‘Being the oldest logistics company in the world, we feel committed to helping shape the future of mobility,’ explains Frank.
For nearly four years, the three Swiss developers, David Pröschel, Patrik and David Koller, have been working on putting the multi-purpose truck into practice. By embarking on an expedition to a place no vehicle has ever reached, they want to prove the efficiency of alternative drive technologies. ‘Our vehicle makes it possible to perform even the most demanding transport tasks, whether in mining or when erecting high-altitude solar power plants, in an environmentally compatible and economically efficient manner. The expedition will show the commercial viability of our product,’ says Patrik Koller, Head of Finance and the Peak Evolution Team co-developer. ‘In Gebrüder Weiss, we have gained a partner who shares our vision of sustainable mobility and, as an international transport company, will also benefit from it practically.’
The transport requires comprehensive expertise and flexibility: since electrically powered vehicles are considered hazardous goods, the specialists of the international transport company developed a double container floor that secures the expedition equipment and allows the battery. In addition, extensive documentation must meet the strict safety and customs requirements at sea and in the destination country.
The mission will be accompanied by a documentary film team headed by award-winning Swiss filmmaker Claudio von Planta.
All information at a glance
| Mission | High-altitude world record with solar-powered truck |
| Destination | The world’s highest volcano: Ojos del Salado in Chile (6,893 m) |
| Transport | Land transport: Sevelen (CH) – Rotterdam (NL): 889 km San Antonio (CL) – Salar de Maricunga (CL): 780 km Sea transport: Rotterdam – San Antonio: 12,021 km Packaging: Double container floor secures expedition equipment and allows for battery disconnection |
| Solar-powered truck | Basis: Multi-purpose truck by Aebi Schmidt Equipment: 2 electric motors 380 hp 200 km range 240 kW output |
| Photovoltaics | 42 m2 modules on the roof and as mobile extensions 7.4 kWp total output |
