This ‘crazy’ couple is driving an electric car all the way to the South Pole
Last year, we reported on an electric Nissan Ariya that would make a trip from the magnetic North Pole to the South Pole manned by Chris Ramsey of Plug in Adventures and his wife Julie, who were also the first to complete the Mongol Rally in an EV in 2017. The vehicle will be the first of any kind – gas or electric – to manage this feat.
The couple is now well along the way through their trip, and we caught up with them in Southern California to see how things are going.
The star of the show: Ariya-turned-monster truck
The Ariya in question was modified by Arctic Trucks – an Icelandic company that specializes in preparing vehicles for the most difficult conditions on Earth – and has been dubbed model “AT39.” The Pole to Pole Ariya is the first electric vehicle the company has ever modified and is being used as a proof-of-concept for future modifications of polar electric vehicles, potentially to replace the diesel vehicles currently used for Antarctic research and expeditions.
But the AT39 Ariya actually isn’t that far off from stock. It’s still using Nissan’s suspension (just lifted) and powertrain, but several tow hitches and other gear solutions have been added, along with some reinforcement to the frame and underbody. On a gas vehicle, a gearbox change would have been necessary for such heavy off-roading, but that isn’t needed with an EV due to the broad torque curve of electric motors.
The most striking change is the addition of huge 39-inch BFGoodrich KO2 tires, which required widening the wheel arches and adding large flared fenders – they only had to cut a little bit off the door to do it. On ice and snow, the duo has run the tires as low as four psi to help increase traction on rough or soft road surfaces.
Parked next to a standard Ariya, the AT39 certainly looks significantly more imposing:
Between the huge off-road tires, fenders, and roof rack with rooftop tent, the range has been cut significantly. But the Ramseys haven’t been able to test exactly how much range they’ve lost because the tire modifications mean their speedometer and odometer aren’t calibrated properly. According to GPS, the longest they’ve gone so far between charges is about 162 miles, with 18% left in the battery, giving them a “best” achieved range of ~200 miles out of the 272-mile rated Ariya.
These range losses are part of the message that the Ramseys want to send, anyway. If they can make it all the way from one end of the globe to the other with a 150-200 mile range, this shows that most people don’t “need” the huge range they claim they need.
Challenges behind & ahead
But when they get to the South Pole, things will be different. The rooftop tent will be swapped out for a larger deployable structure that can encompass the whole car, to trap some of the heat from the 24-hour summer polar sun to keep both the Ramseys and the car warm.
Driving over snow and ice in potentially -40º temperatures is going to eat into efficiency, and Chris estimates that the car will use about 1% of battery for every kilometer of travel. So, for the approximately 850 miles (~1,400 km) that they’ll be driving from the edge to the center of Antarctica, this means a lot of charging and then a lot of charging on the way back, too.
Some of this charging will be provided by solar panels, which the Ramseys plan to mount vertically rather than horizontally. At extreme latitudes, the sun is low in the sky, so vertical panels capture sunlight more directly and can benefit from light being reflected off snow and ice.
And when they can’t get enough solar, they’ll have a gasoline generator. This sounds like a surrender, but it actually brings up one of the strengths of EVs – EVs are energy-agnostic and can be fueled with solar, wind, tidal, a hamster on a wheel… or even oil. Whereas gas cars, well, they can only use oil and nothing else.
Previously, the two had planned to charge during stops by using a small wind turbine that they were carrying with them on a trailer. But the trailer ended up being more trouble than it was worth on rough Arctic roads, so that plan was abandoned. The solar plan will be less unwieldy to transport, but it remains to be seen how difficult deployment and teardown will be in frigid polar temperatures.
People have called them “crazy” for doing this expedition, but Chris thinks that he’s the right one for the job. He said he considered an around-the-world trip, but that’s been done before. As a “Plug in Adventurer,” Chris likes to push the boundaries of what EVs can do, and has experience both driving EVs in rough conditions and advocating for them to the public.
Chris said that, outside of the polar regions, finding a charge has not been a problem, even in the most remote areas. This has held true for this expedition and the Ramseys’ previous one, driving an original 30 kWh Nissan Leaf from London to Mongolia in the Mongol Rally in 2017 – again, a low-range vehicle that still managed a long trip. Electricity is everywhere, and electrical outlets are far more common than gas stations, after all.
Climate change in focus
The 17,000-mile trip will take a total of nine months, a timeline constrained primarily by weather conditions at the poles. By starting in the North Pole’s spring, the pair had sunlight available but plenty of sea ice (which is, unfortunately, retreating due to climate change). And finishing in the South Pole’s summer means they’ll have 24-hour sunlight to power the aforementioned solar panels – plus, Antarctic expeditions aren’t permitted before November anyway.
Or at least, that’s how the plan was supposed to go. The journey got off to a rocky start, as they had to rush to make it to the North Pole and back before the ice roads melted. This meant they basically did nothing but drive (oft through barely-passable slush) and charge between March 29 and April 8, getting out with just a day to spare before the ice road closed abruptly due to melting, almost two weeks earlier than it closed last year.
In previous years, the roads stayed open much longer – but due to climate change, they’ve been getting dangerous and undrivable earlier and earlier.
And this is what the trip is all about. The global shift to electric vehicles is necessary in the fight against climate change, to which auto emissions are a primary contributor. Julie wants to use the trip to see electrification efforts and highlight efforts to fight climate change from local communities along the way.
To that end, the pair have already toured a copper mine to see its electrification efforts, checked out an electric seaplane in the Pacific Northwest, stopped by the Formula E electric car race in Portland, and spoken at the Northwest Overland Rally to show a bunch of diesel RV owners that electric cars can handle the toughest travel conditions. And they hung out with the Tesla Owners Club of Orange County (where we met up with them), serendipitously showing off the wide range of EVs available today:
Going forward, they’re looking forward to visiting (and charging from) solar and wind farms run by trip sponsor Enel X, and hoping to participate in reforestation projects in South America.
But the most interesting part so far for Chris has just been meeting people. Both those who are familiar with EVs, like the Tesla club, and who are new to them, like the overlanders, some of whom told him that he’d sold them on EVs with his story.
If you want to follow Chris & Julie’s journey, check out their website or Linktree to find your preferred social media link. You can even track them live with this cool interactive map, showing locations of interest they’ve stopped at so far.
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Global EV charging is about to see a massive buildout. According to Wood Mackenzie’s recent Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Forecast, the number of global EV charging ports is expected to climb at a 12.3% compound annual growth rate between 2026 and 2040, hitting 206.6 million by the end of that period.
Home charging leads the way
Residential charging will continue to be the backbone of the market, with 133 million ports installed globally by 2040. To support that growth, annual spending on EV charging infrastructure will rise steadily at 8% a year, reaching $300 billion by 2040.
“Residential Level 2 charging dominates the global market and will make up about 2 out of every 3 charging ports worldwide through 2050,” said Emil Koenig, senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie. “Its appeal comes from the balance of convenience, performance, and value that resonates most strongly with EV owners.”
Public charging will also expand, but at a more measured pace compared to home setups. “As utilization in public charging increases and infrastructure efficiency improves, we expect the ratio of EVs to public chargers to rise from 7.5 battery electric vehicles per charger in 2025 to 14.2 in 2040,” said Oliver McHugh, Wood Mackenzie’s senior EV charging research analyst.
Asia-Pacific dominates, with India rising fast
China continues to lead the global pack in public charging infrastructure, and Asia-Pacific overall is forecast to see around 10% annual growth in DC fast charging from 2025 through 2040. By then, public Level 3 and residential Level 2 charging will represent the largest annual capital spending in the region, at $54 billion and $33 billion, respectively.
India is emerging as a fast-growing market. The country’s DC fast charger network is projected to skyrocket from just 14,000 today to 1.1 million by 2040, thanks to strong government policies and rapid EV adoption.
The Americas keep pace
Despite challenges, the US public fast-charging market is expected to grow at a healthy 14% annual clip, reaching 475,000 ports by 2040 and generating $3.3 billion in annual market value. South America will also ramp up quickly – residential charging in the region is projected to grow at 22% annually as EV adoption accelerates. Residential Level 2 charging will dominate, with $11.2 billion in spending by 2040.
Europe and the Middle East surge
Europe’s public charging infrastructure is on track for 11.3% annual growth through 2040, with DC fast chargers expanding even faster at 13.7%. Residential charging will hit 57 million AC chargers, while commercial charging grows at 12% annually.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a standout player in the Middle East. The kingdom’s public DC charging segment is forecast to soar at 29% annual growth, supported by aggressive government targets. By 2040, the entire EMEA region will be spending $14 billion each year on public charging and $30 billion on residential charging.
Read more: The US added 4,200 new DC fast charging ports, and that’s just Q2
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Tesla insiders have been unloading their shares at an impressive rate. Excluding CEO Elon Musk, Tesla executives and board members have sold more than 50% of their TSLA shares over the last year.
And that might only be part of the story.
Public companies are required to report insider trading by key executives and board members.
In recent years, Tesla’s number of key executives has dwindled to now only three:
- Elon Musk
- Tom Zhu
- Vaibhav Taneja
Here’s Tesla’s corporate governance page on its investor relations website:
That’s partly due to several of them leaving in the last year, including Drew Baglino, who was the de facto head of engineering and was listed as a key executive before leaving last year.
It’s also because Musk is known to micro-manage, resulting in him having many direct reports who would generally go through other department heads.
The result is that only two Tesla executives, in addition to Musk, who would have to report his transactions even if he weren’t CEO, since he owns more than 10% of the company, are required to report their stock transactions.
Based on Tesla’s 2024 proxy statement, here were the insider ownership last year:
| TSLA Insider Ownership | Total | Shares | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elon Musk | 715,022,706 | 303,960,630 | 411,062,076 |
| Vaibhav Taneja | 1,063,544 | 105,032 | 958,512 |
| Andrew Baglino | 1,218,669 | 31,230 | 1,187,439 |
| Tom Zhu | 1,996,983 | 63,171 | 1,933,812 |
| Robyn Denholm | 1,490,069 | 15,000 | 1,475,069 |
| Ira Ehrenpreis | 1,681,005 | 1,571,005 | 110,000 |
| Joe Gebbia | 111 | 111 | 0 |
| James Murdoch | 1,427,295 | 157,275 | 1,270,020 |
| Kimbal Musk | 1,950,470 | 1,608,720 | 341,750 |
| Kathleen Wilson‑Thompson | 771,255 | 5,400 | 765,855 |
| TOTAL | 726,622,107 | 307,517,574 | 419,104,533 |
| TOTAL Excl. Elon Musk | 11,599,401 | 3,556,944 | 8,042,457 |
Now here’s the ownership of Tesla shares and options from insiders based on the 2025 proxy statement:
| Name | Total | Shares | Options | As‑of (filing) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elon Musk | 714,754,706 | 410,794,076 | 303,960,630 | 12/31/2024 (10‑K/A filed 4/30/2025) |
| Vaibhav Taneja | 830,844 | 116,924 | 713,920 | 7/8/2025 |
| Andrew Baglino | 520,005 | 31,230 | 488,775 | 4/1/2024 (latest) |
| Tom Zhu | 348,250 | 67,600 | 280,650 | 6/12/2025 |
| Robyn Denholm | 85,000 | 85,000 | 0 | 5/6/2025 |
| Ira Ehrenpreis | 855,394 | 855,394 | 0 | 5/27/2025 |
| Joe Gebbia | 4,111 | 4,111 | 0 | 4/24/2025 |
| James Murdoch | 1,282,519 | 884,306 | 398,213 | 3/10/2025 |
| Kimbal Musk | 1,463,220 | 1,463,220 | 0 | 5/27/2025 |
| Kathleen Wilson‑Thompson | 5,400 | 5,400 | 0 | 5/1/2025 (options canceled) |
| TOTAL (sum of listed rows) | 720,149,449 | 414,307,261 | 305,842,188 | |
| TOTAL excl. Elon Musk | 5,394,743 | 3,513,185 | 1,881,558 |
As you can see, excluding Musk, Tesla insiders sold more than half their shares in the company over the last year.
To be fair, some of those changes also include cancellations of stock options for board members, who settled a shareholders’ lawsuit for having overcompensated themselves.
However, it doesn’t account for the reduction in ownership of more than 6 million shares and stock options, worth approximately $2 billion at today’s share price.
There are also some specific examples of non-board members liquidating their stakes.
Tom Zhu, who has led Tesla’s manufacturing efforts and was at times seen as Musk’s number 2 at Tesla, reduced his stake by 82% in a single year.
This happened while Musk claimed that Tesla will become the most valuable company in the world and roughly 10x its current stock price due to autonomous driving and robots, a claim most unbiased analysts have been highly skeptical about.
Electrek’s Take
More than 50% reduction in ownership in a single year is wild.
But as I hinted at the beginning of the article, this is only what we can see. Other Tesla execs, managers, and employees also have shares and stock options, and they could potentially be selling at an even higher rate. We simply don’t know.
The single reporting person to have bought shares is Joe Gebbia, who only bought about $1 million worth, and he is a multi-billionaire. It would be the equivalent of me buying a few hundred dollars’ worth of Electrek shares – not a great show of confidence in my company.
I’m not in the business of predicting Tesla’s share price. I think it trades mainly on gullible Tesla retail shareholders believing Musk’s lies.
But I believe that Tesla will likely face several challenging quarters in the next few years and may even start incurring losses. I think many executives also see this coming and don’t believe that autonomy and humanoid robots will have a positive financial contribution for a few years, as Musk claims.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s EV business is struggling, and there’s little hope of reversing the trend without fresh new models and innovation – the pace of which appears to have greatly slowed at Tesla, unfortunately.
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BMW is tired of missing out, as the Mercedes G-Wagon gets all the attention. That’s why it’s building its own luxury off-roader. BMW’s upcoming flagship SUV may even arrive as an EV.
Will BMW’s off-road luxury SUV launch as an EV?
The new full-size SUV, codenamed G74, will go head-to-head with the Mercedes G-Class and other luxury off-roaders like the Land Rover Defender.
Multiple reports claim it will be built in the US at BMW’s Spartanburg, SC plant, alongside the X5, X6, and X7. A senior BMW official confirmed the rumors, telling Autocar that work on the upcoming flagship SUV is well underway.
“We’re aware of the market potential,” the company official said, adding, “It’s more than just discussions. We have been planning this for a while.”
Although BMW is keeping most details secret for now, we do know it will be gas-powered. The company official explained that the new SUV “will definitely need an internal combustion engine.”
It’s expected to ride on a modified version of its CLAR platform, which underpins the X5. The chassis will pull elements from its larger SUVs, like the X7, including air suspension, advanced four-wheel drive, and much more, to enhance on and off-road road performance.
It’s set for production in the US from 2029. Will BMW also offer an electric version? Don’t rule one out just yet. BMW officials are considering an electric version that would compete with the growing list of luxury off-road EVs coming from China, including BYD’s Yangwang U8 and the GWM Tank 700.
With several other luxury electric SUVs hitting the market, including the Rivian R1S and upcoming Volkswagen Scout Traveler, BMW may look to defend sales in the US, its second-largest market behind China.
Inside, the new flagship model will feature better quality materials and equipment than the current range-topping vehicles, the BMW official told Autocar.
BMW’s new off-road SUV will likely pull most other elements from its upcoming Neue Klasse models, so why not launch an EV variant?
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