I’m not sure what they’re putting in the water in rural China, but whatever it is, it’s inspired the country’s farmers to build everything from helicopters to defence grids. Now we can add a wind-powered car to the list of back country inventions.
According to the Sky News report, the car was designed and thrown together for around $1500 over the course of three months and includes pieces from a scooter and motorcycle. The front-mounted turbine — the key to the whole thing — won’t kick into action until the vehicle hits 88m/h, at which point it travels through time 40m/h (64km/h).
The power produced is used to supplement the battery so the car only needs to be charged every three days, instead of every day.
So, yes, it’s not designed to be fuelled entirely from passing air and requires a drink from the mains like any electric car. Designer and builder Tang Zhenping’s goal was to create an environmentally friendly vehicle that can be mass-produced cheaply, not to break the laws of thermodynamics. Considering the relatively small amounts of time and money spent, he’s done a bang-up job on the prototype.
[Sky News, via OddityCentral]