Connect with us

Published

2 years ago

on

nissan ariya pole to pole long beach chris julie ramsey

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.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Environment

Anker SOLIX Halloween Sale takes up to 63% off camping-ready solutions from $279, Lectric XP Trike2 750 with $661 in FREE gear, more

Published

3 hours ago

on

October 20, 2025

By

Anker SOLIX Halloween Sale takes up to 63% off camping-ready solutions from 9, Lectric XP Trike2 750 with 1 in FREE gear, more


Kicking off this week’s Green Deals, we have the newly launched Anker SOLIX Halloween Sale that is taking up to 63% off power stations, like the new SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station and bundles starting from its second-best rate of $398, among others. We are also shining a spotlight back on Lectric’s ongoing Spooky Sale, particularly on the Long-Range XP Trike2 750 that is getting its largest bundle of $661 in FREE gear (a $558 bundle + $103 in mystery gifts) at $1,799. There’s also EcoFlow’s latest 48-hour Halloween flash sale that is taking up to 68% off four offers, a 2-in-1 Worx lawncare solution, and more waiting for you below. And don’t forget about the hangover deals from last week that are collected together at the bottom of the page, rounded up into our latest edition of Electrified Weekly.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Anker SOLIX Halloween Sale takes up to 63% off camping-ready units, like the new C1000 Gen 2 station at $398

Anker SOLIX has officially launched its Halloween Sale through the upcoming holiday, giving you ample time to take advantage of the up to 63% discounts on a collection of power stations and accessories, especially if you missed the Prime Day event. Among the lineup, we spotted the brand’s new C1000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station dropping down to $397.99 shipped this time, which also happens to match its pricing at Amazon. While it has been carrying a $799 MSRP since hitting the market at the top of September, we’ve been seeing it regularly keep down near $449, with Prime Day delivering the biggest discount to $379, while today’s $401 markdown from its MSRP gives you the second-best price we have tracked. Learn more about it by heading below or checking out our hands-on tested review here, and be sure to also checking out the early-bird savings on the new SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 power station here.

The first of Anker’s new gen 2 backup power solutions, the SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 power station comes as a lighter and more compact unit over the original C1000 model (which is sitting at the same price). Trading in its modular expandability for this decrease in size, it sports a 1,024Wh LiFePO4 battery that delivers up to 2,000W of steady power to devices and appliances, surging up to 3,000W as needed. There are 10 port options you’ll have to choose from: five AC, two 140W USB-C, one 15W USB-C, one 12W USB-A, and one 120W car output.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Charging times on this new model have been sped up, with its AC input allowing for a faster 49-minute charge time to get the battery back to full. There’s also options to connect to a gas generator (providing passthrough charging), utilizing up to a maximum 600W solar input, using both AC and solar simultaneously, or by plugging into your car’s auxiliary port. You can get a rundown on what mine has been keeping powered in our hands-on tested review.

Anker SOLIX Halloween Sale C1000 series deals:

Anker’s other camping-ready SOLIX Halloween Sale deals:

Anker’s SOLIX Halloween Sale electric cooler deals:

You can check out Anker’s full SOLIX Halloween Sale lineup here on the landing page, which includes the larger home backup units. Be sure to also check out the early-bird deals of up to 50% discounts on the brand’s upcoming SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station ahead of its launch next week.

man and woman riding Lectric long-range XP Trike2 e-bikes down road

Lectric Spooky Sale offers largest $661 bundle of FREE gear with the new long-range XP Trike2 750 at $1,799

The Lectric Spooky Sale is in full swing with up to $762 in savings being taken off its e-bike bundles with bonus FREE mystery gifts on select models, making it a great time to upgrade your commute. Among the lineup that includes some of the biggest bundles on the XP4 750 e-bikes, we also spotted the biggest packages on the brand’s new Long-Range XP Trike2 750 getting $558 in FREE gear + $103 in FREE mystery gifts at $1,799 shipped, while the standard XP Trike2 is getting $257 in FREE gear at $1,299 shipped. The newer model just hit the scene back in August and has seen bundles of $493 and $455 accompany purchases so far. This sale is now increasing the savings with the largest bundles of free gear – $661 in total – which includes the two mystery gifts, front and rear cargo baskets, an upgraded saddle with a backrest, an Elite headlight upgrade, and a suspension seat post.

If you want to learn more about the XP Trike2’s capabilities, as well as the full lineup of deals, be sure to check out our original coverage of this sale here.

man connecting EcoFlow's DELTA 2 power station to solar panels outside next to lake

EcoFlow 48-hour flash sale drops expanded DELTA 2 bundle with 2x 110W solar panels to $919 low, more from $129

As part of EcoFlow’s ongoing Halloween Sale, you can find the next of the event’s 48-hour flash sales live, with up to 68% discounts on four different offers. Among them, we spotted the DELTA 2 Portable Power Station getting an extra battery and two 110W solar panels at $919 shipped, which is not available as a bundle on Amazon. Carrying a $2,646 MSRP, we’ve seen the costs previously taken lowest to $939 during the brand’s Prime Day Sale event that ended last week. Through October 21, however, you can pick up this solar-capable bundle with even more savings – $1,727 off the MSRP – while this flash offer lasts, giving you the best price we have tracked to date.

If you want to learn more about this well-rounded bundle, or the other offers, be sure to check out our original coverage of this flash sale here.

man using Worx GT3.0 20V 12-inch cordless string trimmer and edger on sloped hill

Keep weeds tamed and lines clean with Worx’s GT3.0 20V 12-inch cordless string trimmer/edger at $75

Amazon is offering the Worx GT3.0 20V 12-inch Cordless PowerShare String Trimmer/Edger with 2.0Ah battery at $74.99 shipped. While it carries a $130 MSRP, we’ve been seeing it keep down at $119 over the year, with it recently holding lower at $79 since late August, and some occasional drops as low as $70. We saw that low price back at the top of September, with today’s deal landing just $5 higher, giving you the second-best price we have tracked, which even beats out its Prime Day pricing from two weeks ago. You’ll also find this tool coming with two 2.0Ah batteries for $110, if you want extended runtimes.

If you want to learn more about this 2-in-1 tool, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

Best Fall EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.


Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google
Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

Two biggest advisory firms urge ‘no’ vote on Elon Musk’s ridiculous $1T pay day

Published

4 hours ago

on

October 20, 2025

By

Two biggest advisory firms urge 'no' vote on Elon Musk's ridiculous T pay day

Elon Musk Tesla Money hero

The two largest independent advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, have both recommended a “no” vote on the proposed pay package for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, citing many concerns about shareholder dilution and other terms of the plan.

In September, Tesla’s board proposed a stock award worth up to $1 trillion for CEO Elon Musk. It includes several milestones regarding Tesla stock and product performance, each of which unlocks tens of billions of dollars for Musk.

It’s the largest award proposed for any CEO of any company by multiple orders of magnitude – with previous proposed Musk awards holding the second and third place positions as well.

In addition to that much-reported proposal, another proposal is up for a vote which would create a special share reserve of 208 million shares (current value $92 billion) which the Tesla board can give to Elon Musk with no string attached.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Both proposals will be voted on by TSLA shareholders at Tesla’s shareholder meeting on November 6.

There are a lot of details and history behind this proposal which we at Electrek have covered extensively. Most recently, I went over most of the details of the stock award in this article: Elon Musk’s $1 trillion stock award gets more ridiculous the more you look into it.

But now, both of the largest independent advisory companies have chimed in to point out concerns about the proposals in front of shareholders.

ISS and Glass Lewis state concerns with Musk pay packages

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis are “proxy advisory” companies, both of which who do research and analysis of company proposals and then make recommendations to shareholders about how to vote for them.

Company boards often have their own recommendation on an issue, which may or may not be the best for shareholders – especially if those boards are lacking in independence, and may make recommendations that favor management personally over shareholders as a whole. So, it’s important for independent outside advisors to have a look at proposals and give their take.

Proxy advisory firms are generally less interested in the specifics of what industry a company is in, and just want to ensure good corporate governance – independent and diverse boards, appropriate executive compensation, and so on.

These recommendations are often followed by institutional investors – banks and other large companies that hold large chunks of shares in many companies, many of which they won’t track deeply. So they hire advisory firms to help them make decisions on votes.

ISS and Glass Lewis combined make up the vast majority of the proxy advisory market, so when they make recommendations, it can sway a lot of votes.

And, in looking at the proposals in front of Tesla investors for this year’s shareholder meeting, both of them have stated significant concerns.

On Friday, ISS stated that while it recognizes Musk’s “track record and vision” and the board’s intent to retain him for those reasons, the pay package “locks in extraordinarily high pay opportunities over the next ten years” and “reduces the board’s ability to meaningfully adjust future pay levels.”

It also pointed out that the proposal is designed in such a way as to allow extremely high pay for Musk even if most milestones aren’t achieved, and stated that its “astronomical” size would dilute shareholder value and voting rights.

Glass Lewis’ recommendation counters Tesla board on most proposals

Electrek obtained a full copy of Glass Lewis’ report, but not of ISS’.

Today, Glass Lewis echoed ISS’ statement, saying that dilution to shareholders “warrants significant concern.” It recommended shareholders to vote against all three pay-related proposals (2, 3 and 4), and to vote against re-election of board members Ira Ehrenpreis and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, though it did recommend voting for the re-election of Joseph Gebbia.

Glass Lewis calls proposal 3 “particularly concerning,” as it ties a 208 million share award for Musk to the creation of a pool of 60 million shares for all other Tesla employees combined, and notes that the employee pool is only necessitated by the board’s previous action draining the pool of shares for employees and giving them all to Musk. It suggests that shareholders vote down this proposal, and that the company put up a separate, clean proposal to refill the employee pool.

And proposal 4, the $1 trillion award, is noted as being excessively dilutive for current shareholders and allowing too much concentration of ownership into Musk’s hands, along with producing more “key man risk” for Tesla. Glass Lewis states that attaching Tesla’s future so inextricably with Musk’s is risky, given his “vast and varied interests,” and suggests it would be reasonable to “sets parameters that limit the key man risk to which shareholders are exposed,” which the company has chosen not to do.

It also notes concern over promising billions of dollars of awards to Musk for doing some of the most basic things that a CEO is meant to do, such as developing a succession plan. Shareholders should “reasonably be concerned that the committee feels the need to compel Mr. Musk to perform such duties, particularly at such cost to shareholders.”

The milestones involved in the award are noted as potentially being easy to achieve, particularly given that the board can decide on a whim to grant a tranche of stock even if a product milestone isn’t reached, if market realities have changed between now and then (a “covered event”) resulting in those product milestones becoming unrealistic. The board is given significant discretion in this matter.

Finally, Glass Lewis points out the danger of allowing Musk to vote his entire ownership stake in favor of his own pay, which was not the case in the last shareholder vote over Musk’s pay. This means essentially a free 15% head-start on the vote, due purely to Musk’s own shares. Glass Lewis cites surveys of its clients and others, stating that a majority of both shareholders and non-investors think that executives should not be able to vote on their own pay packages in stating that Musk’s ability to vote on this proposal does not align with market expectations.

Glass Lewis also stated its concerns with a proposal for Tesla to invest in xAI. xAI is a private company which Musk started started to compete with Tesla (and is currently subject to a lawsuit for that reason). Glass Lewis said that this matter should be decided by the board, not shareholders.

In sum, Glass Lewis’ recommendations ran counter to the Tesla’s board recommendation in almost every case. The only proposals they agreed on are the election of Gebbia, ratification of Tesla’s auditor, and proposals 8 and 9, two shareholder proposals recommending Tesla adopt standards on sustainability and child labor.

Tesla responds by lashing out with attacks

Tesla has, expectedly, responded with attacks against both firms.

Both ISS and Glass Lewis have recommended “no” votes on Musk’s pay packages in the past, citing similar concerns over their size and the amount of dilution which they would cause to shareholders. And Tesla has spoken out against the two firms in those instances.

In this instance, Tesla attacked ISS, suggesting that its status as a disinterested advisor (which does not hold shares in the company) somehow makes it less capable of seeing the reality of the situation. It also notes past shareholder votes on other proposals, which were different from the proposals on the table today.

And after Glass Lewis’ recommendation today, Tesla levied another attack, making similar points about votes on past proposals, rather than the proposals in front of shareholders today.

Separately, Tesla also attacked a group of pension funds which are invested in TSLA, mocking them for having returns of 7-13% (which, collectively, is above average for large stable funds). Tesla even hired an outside PR company to publicize this attack.

Electrek’s Take

We’ve been clear here, over and over, about how ridiculous this stock plan is.

However, despite it seeming ridiculous at first glance, it only gets more ridiculous the deeper you look into it.

I went over it all this weekend in the article mentioned above, Elon Musk’s $1 trillion stock award gets more ridiculous the more you look into it. It’s long, but if you want more detail, that’s the place to go.

In short, the analyses presented by these outside firms looking at Tesla’s shareholder proposals, and the environment around them, are clear-headed and made in the interest of Tesla shareholders. If shareholders actually read the letters or analyses involved with their own interests in mind, they will likely be persuaded.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s responses have been filled with the sort of language that someone would expect out of an entity that is trying to deceive – the sort of language we’ve gotten used to in our politics. They read as campaign messages or advertising efforts, not as the result of deep analysis. And Musk also threatened his own company just yesterday, once again, in the hope that shareholders will feel trapped enough that they vote to retain him.

If the only place people read about this is on twitter, which Elon Musk bought for the purpose of spreading his own propaganda and shutting down dissent, they might get one sense of what the proposals mean. In that upside-down world, TSLA investors can only benefit as the stock goes up, and Musk only benefits if the stock goes up.

But looking into the actual details of the proposals, it becomes apparent that Musk can get awarded with a larger payday than any CEO ever for doing nothing at all, that that award comes at the cost of every other Tesla employee and the voting rights of every Tesla shareholder, and that better options are available which would maintain the rights of Tesla investors while also compensating its CEO (whose performance has been exceptionally bad recently).

But those options have not been provided to shareholders to vote on, as Tesla’s board is working more in the benefit of their friend Elon, rather than the benefit of TSLA shareholders as a whole.

The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.


Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google
Add Electrek as a preferred source on Google

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

U.S. and Australia sign critical minerals agreement with $8.5 billion project pipeline

Published

4 hours ago

on

October 20, 2025

By

U.S. and Australia sign critical minerals agreement with .5 billion project pipeline

U.S. President Donald Trump meets Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the Cabinet Room at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 20, 2025.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday signed an agreement on critical minerals that includes plans for projects worth a total of up to $8.5 billion.

“There will be $1 billion contributed from Australia and the United States over the next six months with projects that are immediately available,” Albanese told reporters at the White House during a meeting with Trump.

Albanese said there will be three groups of joint projects between the two countries, which will include companies such as Alcoa. The U.S. will invest in rare earths processing in Australia, the prime minister said. One project is a joint venture between Australia, the U.S. and Japan, he said.

“What we’re trying to do here is to take the opportunities which are there,” Albanese told reporters.

China dominates the global rare earths supply chain, particularly refining and processing. The U.S. is dependent on Beijing for rare earths imports. Australia, a close U.S. ally, is one of the few countries in the world other than China that processes rare earths.

“In about a year from now, we’ll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won’t know what to do with them,” Trump told reporters. The U.S. is also working with other nations to build a supply chain that isn’t dependent on China, the president said.

China-U.S. tensions

China announced strict export controls on rare earths earlier this month, pushing Beijing and Washington to the brink of a renewed trade war. Trump has threatened 100% tariffs on Chinese goods starting Nov. 1 or sooner if Beijing does not back down.

“They threatened us with rare earths, and I threatened them with tariffs, but I could also threaten them with many other things, like airplanes,” Trump said.

Trump confirmed he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month. The U.S. president said he will visit China early next year.

“We had presidents that allowed China and other countries get away with murder,” Trump said. “We’re not going to allow that, but we’re going to have a fair deal. I want to be good to China. I love my relationship with President Xi. We have a great relationship.”

Continue Reading

Trending