A team of engineering students from Germany is on an around-the-world journey in the solar car they built, hoping to cross four continents using only the power of the sun.
The SolarWorld GT is the latest iteration of solar vehicle from the University of Applied Sciences Bochum, whose professors and engineers-in-training have been building sun-powered cars since 1999. Unlike their previous cars — which they called “rolling ping-pong tables” — this one is both technologically advanced and comfortable, featuring a monocoque construction and two full-size doors.
On the road since October of 2011, when their car participated in the World Solar Challenge, the team has already crossed Australia and New Zealand and is making its way across North America. It’s currently in Texas, where the German students have camped by the roadside, navigated highways at 30 miles per hour and tried corn dogs for the first time.
So far, the car has attracted lots of positive attention. “Even when driving on the road lots of people are honking and wave their hands with enthusiasm,” said team spokesman Stefan Spychalski. In the team’s blog, they chronicle their encounters with everyone from bikers to mayors — all of whom are fascinated with the sun-powered car.
The two-seater, 573 pound car is followed by a convoy of support vehicles that hold food, supplies, camping equipment and the rest of the team. It has a range of 170 miles when the 4.9 kWh lithium-ion batteries are fully charged from the 32 square feet of solar panels on the vehicle’s roof, though depleted batteries can be swapped for fully charged ones for additional range. That’s exactly what the team had to do outside of Brownsville, Texas, when a cloudy day kept the car from charging.
From Texas, the car will follow the southern border of the US to Florida, then head north to South Carolina, stopping for public presentations all along the way. Then it’s an Atlantic crossing by boat to Gibraltar, a drive across Europe, Russia and China, and back to Australia by sea. The team hopes to have completed their journey by mid-October, and you can follow their progress on their website.
Photo: SolarWorld GT
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