When it comes to crazy-cool engineering, nobody can top ze Germans. If it’s even vaguely plausible, you can bet that some German crackpot inventor has done it. Well, now two Germans – Stefan Simmerer and Dirk Gion – have broken three Guinness World Records in a ... wait for it ... wind turbine powered electric car.
That’s right, an EV that’s powered by a wind turbine, those big robotic looking windmills you may have seen in farms atop hilltops in Scotland or Pennsylvania. Here’s how it works:
At night, Simmerer and Gion park the Wind Explorer – that’s what it’s called – and erect a nifty looking collapsible wind turbine. While they sleep, the lightweight turbine generates enough energy to recharger the Wind Explorer’s batteries. If they’re running low on energy during the day, they can whip out a kite that helps powered the vehicle forward.
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