Dutch adventurer finishes three-year electric car journey in Australia
Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Iran November, 2016 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - As Wiebe Wakker turned off his car in Sydney, Australia on Sunday afternoon it marked the end of a more than three-year journey for the Dutch adventurer and Blue Bandit, his converted electric Volkswagen Golf.
Wakker's Plug Me In initiative is the longest journey in an electric car ever recorded and was started to inspire and educate on a carbon-free future, according to the campaign's website.
Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker finishes his three-year electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Sydney, Australia April 7, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS
Wakker departed the Netherlands on March 15, 2016 and has spent a total of 1,119 days travelling more than 95,000 km (59,000 miles) and visiting 33 countries to try and draw attention to the durability and sustainability of electric cars.
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.
"I got about (1,800) people to sign up and make me zig zag all the way through Europe, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and finally today I arrived here," Wakker told supporters after reaching his finishing line.
Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Dubai, UAE December 2016 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS
Soon after 2 p.m. local time (0400 GMT), Wakker and a motorcade of electric cars crossed Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge, before finishing his long journey at the Royal Botanical Gardens by the Sydney Opera House.
(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker finishes his three-year electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Sydney, Australia April 7, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, at KNT University of Technology in Tehran, Iran November, 2016 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, at the border between Indonesia and Bobonaro, Timor Leste April 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Pontianak, Indonesia December 2017 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker finishes his three-year electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Sydney, Australia April 7, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Penang, Malaysia July 2017 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Iran November, 2016 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker outside the Burj Al Arab hotel on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Dubai, UAE December 2016 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS The electric car is offloaded from a warehouse during Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker's electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in India April 2017 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Iran November, 2016. Picture taken November, 2016 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, near Kalay, Myanmar June 2017 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Myanmar June 2017Êin this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker on his electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in India April 2017 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker finishes his three-year electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Sydney, Australia April 7, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker finishes his three-year electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Sydney, Australia April 7, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker finishes his three-year electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Sydney, Australia April 7, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS Dutch adventurer Wiebe Wakker finishes his three-year electric car journey from the Netherlands to Australia, in Sydney, Australia April 7, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. WIEBE WAKKER/PLUG ME IN PROJECT/via REUTERS
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