Students from the University of New South Wales, Australia, ventured toward setting a new world land speed record among electric cars powered by solar batteries.
Australian students are not the first to try setting a record among cars powered by solar batteries. In 2011, the engineers from Sunswift were able to accelerate a similar vehicle to 88 km/h. This time, on a nice sunny cloudless day, the students decided to cover the distance of 500 km at an average speed of 73 km/h.
A two-door two-seater solar car is made of carbon fibre and weighs just 300 kg. It is fitted with two electric motors, solar batteries and a common Panasonic lithium-ion battery pack. Its top speed is 140 km/h and it is capable of covering 800 km on a single charge.
It features Bilstein and Ohlins suspension elements; its front wheels are made of carbon fibre, while the rear wheels are made of aluminium; it has custom-made Michelin Radial X tyres.
Wishing luck to the guys! They will either become great engineers and build a dream car or… No ifs or buts! As they say, every soldier carries a marshal's baton in his pack.
