Sunswift Purplish Get To Compete Inwards Basis Solar Challenge

Sunswift Violet, a sleek four-seat sedan designed in addition to built past times engineering students at UNSW, left Sydney on Midweek on a 4,300 km drive to Darwin, where it volition compete inwards the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.

It is the sixth-generation solar auto created past times the UNSW Solar Racing Team Sunswift (EV News had the chance to exam Sunswift eVe dorsum inwards 2014), built for practicality, speed in addition to endurance, combining cutting-edge engineering amongst modern comfort.

Sunswift Violet volition survive battling 47 teams from 21 nations inwards the 3,021 km race from Darwin to Adelaide, which begins on Lord's Day 8 Oct 2017.

“Violet looks similar a trouble solid unit of measurement sedan, but uses equally much ability equally a four-slice toaster,” said Sunswift squad leader Simba Kuestler. “She’s got amusement in addition to AC systems, including navigation, opposite photographic tv set camera parking sensors, in addition to there’s fifty-fifty wi-fi aboard. And she’s got enough of front end in addition to nurture kick space.”

It has a overstep speed of 130 km/h in addition to a arrive at of 800 km running only on its rooftop solar panels. It also sports modular lithium-ion batteries which shop ability from the sun; running only on its batteries, it has a arrive at of 400 km. The vehicle relies on around 7kW of horsepower at 110km/h, in addition to ii 1.5kW motors that run at 98% efficiency.

With a twill carbon-fibre monocoque chassis, Sunswift Violet weighs less than 400kg. And because practiced aerodynamics are vital inwards the bespeak for spot out energy efficiency – the to a greater extent than slippery the car, the ameliorate – Sunswift Violet has a drag coefficient below 0.2, ameliorate than the best wind-cheating cars on the market.

While undergoing race testing at the Sydney Motorsport speedway inwards Eastern Creek belatedly concluding week, the auto experienced a mishap: a bolt on the left-hand front end intermission fractured during intense speed braking tests, causing the auto to driblet onto the roadway in addition to sideslip for some thirty metres. There were 4 students aboard at the time, but no-one was hurt.

Mark Hoffman, UNSW’s Dean of Engineering, said challenges similar these were a learning opportunity: “The auto is operating at the cutting-edge of what’s possible, in addition to the students are putting it through strenuous testing ahead of a race where they volition human face upwards intense conditions, in addition to thus it’s no surprise they volition human face upwards setbacks,” he said. “That’s what an engineering grade should survive about, learning virtually demanding, real-world challenges.”

Despite the setback, the squad of undergraduate students worked belatedly nights in addition to over the weekend to repair the harm in addition to reinforce all the dynamic systems of the car, inwards fellowship come across their master copy schedule.

The Sunswift squad holds the basis land-speed tape for an electrical vehicle, recognised inwards 2014 past times the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, when their previous vehicle – Sunswift eVe – travelled at an average 100 km/h over a distance of 500 km on a unmarried charge. This broke a tape that had stood for 26 years, in addition to was recognised amongst a basis tape trophy.

Teams competing inwards this year’s Bridgestone World Solar Challenge come upwards from Belgium, Canada, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the U.K. in addition to the United States of America equally good equally Australia.