German adventures Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer have completed the almost 5,000 kilometre journey from Perth to Sydney in their tiny, open cockpit electric car. They charged the vehicle’s lithium-ion batteries from a small wind turbine which they set up each night using a portable tower that was stowed underneath the vehicle. On the few occasions that wind was not sufficient, they plugged into the local power grid – using a total of $10 worth of electricity.

The team also used a small sky sail to provide additional wind assistance and to help locate areas with sufficient wind to set up the turbine.

The vehicle has a maximum speed of 80 kilometres per hour and weighs 200 kilograms including the wind turbine and tower.