From April 16 to 29, 2025, a pioneering expedition made history on the Greenland Ice Cap: the Trans-Greenland Electric Challenge, the first attempt to cross this vast frozen landscape using an electric snowmobile powered solely by solar energy.
The expedition was led by Ramón Larramendi, polar explorer and creator of the Inuit Windsled. He was joined by a skilled and multidisciplinary team: technical experts Roberto Di Pieri and Felipe Morales, Greenlandic logistics team members Aka Simonsens and J.J Simonsens, Nunatak Productions film crew Alex Galán and David Rodríguez, mountain guide Miguel Ángel Vidal, and explorer and Windsled veteran Juanma Viu.
On April 16, the team departed from Narsaq, transporting all their gear by boat to the Qaleraliq Glacier, where they began setting up the complex logistics of what would become one of the most innovative and sustainability-driven expeditions to date.
To reach the top of the Ice Cap, the team had to ascend with all equipment on foot and by snowmobile. They covered 85 km to reach a starting point at an elevation of 1,600 meters, where they also discovered a previously unmapped nunatak—likely revealed by melting ice due to climate change. In honor of their Greenlandic teammate Aka Simonsens, the team named this newly emerged formation “Aka Nunatak.”
After several days of preparation and solar charging, the expedition officially began on April 23, using only solar energy to recharge the snowmobile’s batteries
Over 195 kilometers, the electric snowmobile hauled more than 180 kg of gear across the ice in six stages—the last three were completed without cargo to test the vehicle’s full range and capabilities, due to the cargo made “waste” the batteries almost half of them. The team reported surprisingly strong performance from the 100 kg batteries, which charged at up to 10 kW/day, even more with cloudy days, thanks to the solar reflectivity of the snow.
The major goals of this expedition were to try the capacity of the electric snowmobile and to test the possibility of charging the batteries through the expedition.
Without towing the heavy sled, the snowmobile could nearly double its performance, highlighting the need for lighter battery systems in future designs as we could verify in the following stages.
We could divide the expedition in two big stages:
- 1st Stage with cargo: 38, 22 and 25 km were covered.
- 2nd Stage without cargo: 55, 45 and 10 km were covered.
The stages took place between April 23 and 28, and the expedition was officially concluded on April 29, upon returning to Narsaq.
During the exploration, the team also had time to revisit and ascend the previously discovered Windsled Harbour Nunatak, first identified in their 2022 expedition – SOS ARCTIC 2022.
This first expedition provided valuable technical and practical insights for future zero-emission journeys in Polar Regions.
Not only this expedition had moments of testing, verifying and learning, a major storm tested their resilience, burying the camp under nearly a meter of snow and forcing the team to rely on their preparation and adaptability. Still, the mission proved a success, demonstrating the viability of solar-powered transport in one of the world’s most challenging environments.
The Trans-Greenland Electric Challenge is not the end—it’s the starting point of a new chapter in sustainable exploration. The team has learned great lessons from this first expedition, which they will put into value and practice in the following stages.