Two young French engineers who are attempting the first-ever around-the-world tour on an electric car have arrived in Vietnam .
On July 6, the two guests, Antonin Guy, 28, and Xavier Degon, 27, had a meeting with Vietnamese press to introduce their special journey.
Departing on February 11, 2012 from Strasbourg, the two engineers have to travel 25,000 km across 17 countries in eight months, using only 250 EUR (310 USD) worth of electricity, seven times cheaper than using gasoline.
The goals of the adventure are to promote the use of electric cars and to assure the world of the capabilities of electrically powered transport, particularly when the world faces so many environmental problems.
Sharing their experience during the trip, the two engineers said they had travelled 15,000 km in over 200 stages. Everyday they have had to persuade local people to provide them outlets for charging the car.
They said that each charging point provided them an exciting opportunity to meet with the citizens of the countries they were crossing.
In addition to discovering countries and their people, they said they want to provide assurance that electric cars are an effective and environmentally friendly means of transport.
"If we can travel around the world with an electric car, you can also use it for your daily transport needs," said Antonin Guy.
Before arriving in Vietnam , the two young engineers stopped in Laos . On July 8, they will continue their journey to China . They will have about two and a half months more to complete the journey.