Adventurous expeditions have long been a part of the story about the transition to electric vehicle dominance, and now a new effort is about to extend that tradition. Meet the Polar Explorer (pictured above): a solar-powered four-wheel-drive vehicle made largely from recycled plastic that will attempt to reach the South Pole in about 10 weeks from now.

The project arose from the simple act of disposing of some plastic packaging, something millions of us do every day. For the Dutch couple at the heart of the project — Liesbeth and Edwin — this was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back and it triggered a series of events that ultimately led them to design, build, and test this glorious photon-fed beast.

For the past year or so, the "Clean 2 Antarctica" team has been posting videos of there progress and associated activities, and so you can probably find the answers to any engineering questions among the 68 (to date) visual missives on their YouTube channel. A perusal of its website does give a few interesting facts, though. For instance, its top speed is a mere 8 kph (4.97 miles per hour) while its weight is 1485 kg (3273.87 pounds).