Two German innovators, Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer, have created a very peculiar vehicle that traversed Australia from Albany in Southwestern Australia to Sydney in the East, all on about $ 15 worth of electricity. The vehicle is called the "Wind Explorer" and it is powered by a combination of kite, wind power turbine, and electric motor.
The vehicle is 441 pounds and has its own wind turbine to charge its electric motors at night. The wind turbine is a 20 foot bamboo mast fitted with a 9 foot diameter rotor. Also, if wind conditions are right, they could deploy a parachute-like kite to provide extra thrust.
Their journey was not totally powered by the wind turbine and kite alone. They did plug in a few times during technical adjustments and equipment tuning in the start of the journey. Also, unfavourable weather has caused them to rely on mainstream electricity such as during Cyclone Yasi when strong winds prevented them from erecting the wind turbine mast. However, the main goal for them to create the Wind Explorer was not to prove that they could cross an entire continent emissions and carbon footprint free but to show that there are energy alternatives to power our vehicles today besides the standard internal combustion engine.
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