World's longest electric road trip ends in New Zealand

World's longest electric road trip ends in New Zealand
Wiebe Wakker holds a charging cable as he poses with his electric vehicle, the Blue Bandit. Wiebe Wakker/Handout via REUTERS

Wellington: A Dutch sustainability advocate completed the longest ever journey in an electric vehicle in New Zealand on Friday after a three-year drive that took him through more than 30 countries.

Wiebe Wakker set off from the Netherlands in March 2016 in his "Blue Bandit" to showcase the potential of sustainable transport, funded by donations from those following his trip on social media.

"I wanted to do my best to promote this technology and show that sustainability is a viable way of transport," Wakker told journalists.

"I wanted to do something really that speaks to the imagination which is driving an electric car from Amsterdam to the other side of the world to show that it can be done."

The 1,01,000 km trip took Wakker through Eastern Europe, Iran, India, Southeast Asia, before travelling around much of Australia and across to New Zealand.

Wakker gave regular updates on his blog and social media throughout the journey, detailing visiting Iran's biggest car manufacturer in Tehran, a breakdown on the Indonesian island of Java and visits to Australia's outback and world-famous Uluru.

World's longest electric road trip ends in New Zealand
The Blue Bandit, along Lake Tekapo, New Zealand. Wiebe Wakker/Handout via REUTERS

The drive had relied on the support of strangers across the globe who offered the traveller food, a place to stay and the essential means to charge his car along the way.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.