Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Wind Explorer car is both electric and kite powered, and crossed Australia


This is the Wind Explorer, and it is a car that can drive by kite.
The Wind Explorer can take credit for breaking three world records: the first continental crossing by a wind-powered vehicle, the longest distance covered by a wind-powered vehicle, and the longest distance covered by a wind-powered vehicle in 36 hours.
You can catch a video of it after the jump if you want to see it in motion. The Wind Explorer traveled 3,107 miles across Australia in about 18 days, and it uses only $15 worth of electricity. Talk about your fuel efficiency!
It is electrical, and has a battery pack and wind turbine in the back, with a trunk up in front like a Volkswagen. The Wind Explorer is made of carbon fiber and sits over an aluminum frame on top of a bicycle tires.
You will notice in the video that driving this vehicle involves some sort of control that looks like kiteboarding. The kite is powerful enough to have the ability to lift someone off of the ground. The kite pulls the vehicle, while someone else steers it.
The Wind Explorer is quite slow, as its top speed is 50 miles per hour. The best distance was 306 miles per day.



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