Geneva International Motor Show Tour d’Excellence arrives successfully in Doha!

Tour d’Excellence of the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) reached its grand culmination in Doha, Qatar, after a 34 days and 8000 km drive. The two crews, led by Frank M Rinderknecht, CEO of Rinspeed AG and Rainer Zietlow, owner of Challenge4.de, left Geneva on August 28. The arrival in Doha not only marks the completion of this incredible journey, but also celebrate the upcoming opening of GIMS Qatar automotive festival which will take over the city of Doha and beyond from 5 to 14 October.

This extraordinary expedition at the wheel of two 100% electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz bearing the GIMS colors, has seen the two crews traverse Europe, the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, without any assistance. This adventure was marked by daily and unique challenges, heat, unforgettable
experiences, and encounters.

One of the standout features of this tour has been the innovative use of technology, combined with the necessary ingenuity. Participants harnessed the power of 26 different vehicle charging apps, a local SIM card and the invaluable help of friendly helpers for translation and electricity access, ensuring that they could charge their electric vehicles. Rainer Zietlow: “Though time-consuming, this approach has
underlined the feasibility of electric vehicle travel in diverse regions and also enabled us to meet local people who were as curious as they were delighted to help us charging”.

The Tour d’Excellence highlighted a number of important aspects of electromobility. Firstly, the success of the Tour d’Excellence shows that current EV technology from Europe is reliable and, to a certain extent, sufficiently flexible. However, there is still a lot of work to be done on the interoperability of electricity suppliers, as well as the standardization of charging norms or simply the network of recharging  infrastructure within a country. Frank M Rinderknecht: “In addition to the 26 apps we had to download, we also had to deal with the fact that in Jordan, for example, most EV come from China and use the GB/T charging standard, which is incompatible with our European Type 2 standard. And in Saudi Arabia in particular, the network of charging points is still not existent, with a very few exceptions in less than a hand-
full cities.” And Rainer Zietlow adds: “This didn’t stop us from being among the first to achieve a full 2000km crossing of the Arabian Peninsula in EVs without using one single charging station!”

Excellence, innovation, and pioneering spirit GIMS has launched the Tour d’Excellence to strengthen the bond between its two host cities, Geneva and Doha. As GIMS CEO Sandro Mesquita explains: “Excellence, innovation and pioneering spirit are the key elements of the GIMS DNA. The idea of the Tour d’Excellence is to manifest this spirit, all while highlighting the industry’s recent progress in electromobility. Frank, Rainer and their team have successfully mastered a challenge that was not self-evident. A good omen for the
GIMS Qatar, opening in 3 days’ time, and which was also an extraordinary challenge!”

A project like the Tour d’Excellence couldn’t come to fruition without the support of a major partner: the Harting technology group is a leading supplier of technology and charging infrastructure for electromobility. Founded in 1945, this family-owned company’s motto is “Pushing performance”. Today, they support all current charging standards and develop charging technologies for automakers and infrastructure developers. As a tiers 1 supplier to the VW Group, for many years Harting has been
enthusiastically involved in projects demonstrating the performance and range of electric vehicles.
GIMS Qatar 2023 dates:

Motor Show & Classics Gallery at Doha Exhibition & Convention center 

• Thursday 5th October: Opening Ceremony & Gala Night
• Friday 6th October: Media Day
• Saturday 7th – Saturday 14th October: Public Days
• Offroad Adventures : Saturday 7th – Friday 13th October
• Future Design Forum : Monday 9th October
• Track Days : Wednesday 11th – Saturday 14th October
• City Playground : Thursday 12th – Saturday 14th October
• Parade of Excellence :Thursday 12th October

About the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS):
The Geneva International Motor Show has been a springboard for the future of mobility since 1905. It is widely recognised as the most important motor show in Europe and is one of the most prestigious and influential shows in the world. With the launch of GIMS Qatar, the Geneva International Motor Show is extending its brand to a new location, Doha. The organiser and rights holder of the GIMS is the Geneva-based Comité permanent du Salon international de l’automobile Foundation.