So, animals and wind worked for centuries, before the human race discovered how to make self propelled machines. That means, obviously, that the same principles can be applied in a modern day vehicle as well.
And it is exactly that what a couple of guys, Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer, managed to prove two weeks ago in Australia with their strange looking vehicle. More precisely, they proved that you don't need more than $15 worth of electricity to travel for 3,107 miles (5,000 km).
The principle behind the vehicle is very simple, and involves harnessing the power of the wind to propel a land-based vehicle. The wind, captured with the help of a kite, manage to push the vehicle forward for 300 miles of the journey across Australia (482 km), while an extra 1,400 miles were covered on wind-generated electricity (2,253 km). The rest of the distance has been covered with the power generated by a 8 kWh lithium-ion battery, who sent the power to an electric motor.
The crew of the vehicle sustained average speeds of 50 mph (80 km/h), with the most distance traveled in a day being 306 miles (492 km).
The Wind Racer, as the vehicle is called, will probably not change the way in which wind is seen by the industry as an alternative means of generating power, for reasons we all know. Even so, the journey across Australia shows us all that those who can, do.
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