Wiebe Wakker took just over three years crossing 33 countries in his 95,000 km journey by electric car (AFP Photo/PETER PARKS) |
Sydney (AFP) - A Dutchman completed an epic 95,000 kilometre (59,000 mile) journey by electric car in Sydney Sunday in a bid to prove the viability of such vehicles in tackling climate change.
Wiebe
Wakker drove his retrofitted station wagon nicknamed "The Blue
Bandit" across 33 countries in what he said was the world's longest-ever
journey by electric car.
The trip
from the Netherlands to Australia took just over three years and was funded by public
donations from around the world, including electricity to charge the Bandit,
food and a place to sleep.
Wakker
drove across a variety of countries and environments including Turkey, Iran,
India, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia, with the route determined by the offers
he received on his website.
"I
wanted to change people's opinions and inspire people to start driving electric
by showing the advantages of sustainable mobility," Wakker said.
"If
one man can drive to the other side of the world in an electric car, then EVs
(electric vehicles) should definitely be viable for daily use."
Wakker said
before the car was modified, it would have used 6,785 litres (1,800 US gallons)
of petrol to complete the journey.
The
modified vehicle can travel 200 kilometres on a single charge, with Wakker
saying he spent just US$300 on electricity, much of it in the remote desert
Outback of Australia.
No comments:
Post a Comment