The ancient Silk Road just got a modern upgrade. A couple successfully drove a Chinese electric vehicle from Munich, Germany to Beijing, China - covering roughly 12,500 kilometers in 30 days - proving that overland EV travel across continents is no longer science fiction.
The October journey, which was sponsored to demonstrate both the viability of electric travel along this historic route and the durability of the vehicle, crossed 10 countries: Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China.
According to the traveler's Reddit post, the journey took 30 days total, with 8 days spent immobilized in various cities along the route dealing with administrative challenges.
The most significant obstacles weren't technical - they were bureaucratic and digital. In Russia, travelers faced GPS blackouts, inability to pay or withdraw money with foreign cards, military and police checkpoints, and FSB scrutiny at the border. In China, importing foreign vehicles proved extremely difficult, taking days if not weeks - a challenge that applies even to foreign-licensed Chinese vehicles being brought back into the country.
Border crossings were "rather uneventful" except at Georgia, Russia, and China, where administrative complications added time to the journey.
The most striking landscapes? The traveler highlighted the Georgian, Kazakh, and Xinjiang (China) mountains as the visual highlights of the trip.
This successful crossing demonstrates that electric vehicle infrastructure has developed enough to support true transcontinental journeys - at least for travelers willing to navigate complex visa requirements, border bureaucracy, and occasional digital blackouts. The biggest challenge isn't finding charging stations anymore; it's dealing with the administrative maze of crossing multiple countries with a foreign vehicle.
For adventurous travelers considering similar journeys, the lesson is clear: pack patience along with your charging cables. The infrastructure is there. The paperwork is the real adventure.
