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Dec 22, 2022
An electric car has made a record-breaking 621 mile
(1,000km) trip on a single charge powered by the sun.
The solar-powered Sunswift 7 averaged nearly 53mph (85kph)
in under twelve hours to set a Guinness World Record while completing 240 laps
of a track to represent the distance from Sydney to Melbourne.
Sunswift 7 is the latest in a long line of successful
solar-powered cars from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, since the
first vehicle was produced in 1996.
It weighs just 1,200 pounds, (500kg)—about one quarter of a
Tesla—and boasts impressive efficiencies thanks to its aerodynamic design, the
efficiency of the motors and drive chain, and incredibly low rolling
resistance.
The car is not road legal, as it is missing essentials like
climate control and airbags. The cost is prohibitive as well, but a solid
dataset is an important jumping off point for building future solar cars in a
country like Australia that is blessed with almost year ’round sunshine.
For their World Record, the UNSW team put the car through
the paces at the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) in Wensleydale,
Victoria. They now hold the record for the ‘Fastest EV over 1,000km on a single
charge.’
“It feels very weird to think that we’ve helped to make
something that’s the best in the entire world,” said Sunswift team manager
Andrea Holden, a mechanical engineering student at UNSW.
“Two years ago, when we started to build this car,
everything was going into lockdown and there were a lot of difficult moments.
It was a lot of work and a lot of hours and a lot of stress, but it’s all been
worth it. This world record is validation of all the effort everyone in the
team has put in.”
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As the car knocked out its 240 laps—greater than the
distance to Melbourne from Sydney, the energy consumption was just 3.8
kWh/100km, a far more efficient rating than even the most efficient EVs on the
road today, which average 15kWh-20kWh/100km.
“Let’s remember, these are not the best-paid professional
car makers in Stuttgart working for Mercedes,” said team principal and
four-time F1 world champion as Head of Operations at Red Bull, Professor
Richard Hopkins.
“This is a bunch of very smart amateurs who have taken all
the ingredients and put it together in a brilliant way.”
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“This team has focused on ultimate efficiency in order to
break this world record. They have shown what is ultimately achievable if you
concentrate on aerodynamics, and rolling resistance and the use of smart
materials.”
“I used to work in Formula One and nobody thinks we’ll be
driving F1 cars on the road in five or 10 years. But the technology they use in
F1 really pushes the boundaries and some of that filters down [to regular
vehicles] and that’s what we are trying to do with Sunswift and what this world
record shows is achievable.”
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