Audi has put aside car building for a moment to come up with a unique sled for polar explorer Johan Ernst Nilson. He plans to travel 19,312 kilometres (12,000 miles) from the North Pole to the South Pole by carbon-neutral modes of transport for his Pole2Pole Challenge.
Nilson will walk, ski and cycle, as well as using a dog sled and kite sled. To help him, Audi has designed a lightweight sled to glide over the ice of the frozen North and South Poles.
To further help Nilson prepare for his expedition, Audi has let the explorer use the company's extreme weather testing facility. Using the wind tunnel and cold chamber, Nilson has been able to train in Arctic conditions without having to travel to the Poles. He said: "In a single day at the Audi Test Centre, I found out as much as I would have done on an entire trip across the Antarctic."
The Swedish explorer also has an Audi Q5 on loan as a support vehicle for the trip, which he plans to complete in 12 months. Nilson's journey traces the steps of the first pole-to-pole expedition by Robin Edwin Peary in 1909.