World Solar Challenge - 2017

[Joe Blake]

Looks like preparations are already under way. Should be interesting.

http://newatlas.com/university-eindhoven-stella-vie-world-solar-challenge/50159/?li_source=LI&li_medium=default-widget

And the Dutch are right amongst it.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/saxeharp/general18/5seatsolar_zpseqwbilgo.jpg

[Joe Blake]

A little sneak preview of some of the entries in this year's race.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-30/world-solar-challenge-car-dutch-five-seater-family-sports-future/8854908

I like the bit at the end where it says "This year, the[Adelaide University] team is aiming for an average speed of about 80 kilometres per hour, compared with the 60kph average recorded in 2015."

Adelaide Uni's entry:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/8854968-3x2-700x467.jpg


A Dutch entry in the "cruiser" class - to carry five people!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/8854942-3x2-700x467.jpg

[Joe Blake]

Another entrant.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-11/three-person-solar-vehicle-to-compete-in-world-challenge/8892404

Looking exciting. :nuts:

[Rob Beckers]

When's the start of the race Joe?

[Joe Blake]

The World Solar Challenge starts in Darwin on October 8, and if there is good sunshine the first cars are expected to cross the finish line in Adelaide three days later.

https://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/

[Rob Beckers]

Just over 3000 km in three days on sun only. Very impressive!

[Joe Blake]

Another interesting entry.

http://newatlas.com/sunswift-violet-solar-electric-sedan/51464/

[Joe Blake]

And another entry from the Continent - Belgium.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-07/world-solar-challenge:-belgian-team-hopes-to-make-history/9026970

The race starts tomorrow.

Will keep you posted.

[Rob Beckers]

Joe, ever hear what happened to the team who had their Li-ion batteries stuck at some airport because the airline wouldn't move it to Australia? Could have been a Dutch team, but the newspaper over there are silent after that initial message. I figure they may say more about in Australia in the media.

-RoB-

[Joe Blake]

Had a scrounge around on the net but can't come up with anything.

Here's a link to the website for the event, with a list of all the teams.

https://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/dashboard/map

[Joe Blake]

Day 1, casualties already. :cry:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-08/world-solar-challenge-off-to-a-bumpy-start/9028088

[Rob Beckers]

I love the map that shows where every car is in near real-time! Dang, those things go fast! The Dutch team from Delft University that won last year is again on first place (Team Nuon).

Since I was curious if it was early onset Alzheimer or I actually remembered something about a missing battery I did a search on the Dutch news sites: Turns out it was Team Nuon that had their battery stuck in Singapore after the airline decided (part-way) they didn't want to transport a hand-made Li-ion battery by air. This is an English language article: https://www.nuonsolarteam.nl/en/news/deelname-nuon-solar-team/
They did get their battery, barely on time and several weeks late so they couldn't test as much as they wanted to.

By the way, I noticed one of the cars that had trouble on day 1 was built by a highschool. That's amazing! These aren't easy projects, and most of the teams are from universities. I wouldn't have minded working on one of these when I was in highschool...

-RoB-

[Rob Beckers]

Just checked the map: Nuon (Delft University) is still in first place. That despite an emergency stop due to a broken suspension (10 minute repair time! I wish my car was that quick to fix). The Japanese team passed them while the car was being fixed, but Nuon managed to take the lead again.

They are moving at blistering speeds, the front of the pack is nearly halfway in Alice Springs!

-RoB-

[Joe Blake]

Whooo hooo. Go Dutch.

http://newatlas.com/nuon-day-two-world-solar-challenge/51679/

Beware: Storms may be ahead.

[Rob Beckers]

Tough driving a solar powered car on a cloudy day...

The front of the pack is just a few hundred km from the finish line. For those it'll be the last day tomorrow. Kudos too for another Dutch team, from Eindhoven: They have a cruiser class solar car, hauling 5 people across Australia on sun alone!

https://solarteameindhoven.nl/stella-vie/stella/

-RoB-

[Joe Blake]

http://newatlas.com/nuon-storm-day-three-solar-challenge/51698/

[Rob Beckers]

It's Dutch Domination this year in the Solar Challenge! Delft University with team Nuon won the challenger class, with 2 hour lead on the next car. Twente University (my alma mater) would have been number 3, but they got a 1/2 hour penalty for using a white cloth while charging (bouncing more light onto the panels). That bumped them to fifth.

The average speed of the Nuon car was 81 km/hr!!

In the cruiser class (multi-person vehicles) Eindhoven University is expected to win by a wide margin. They are still on the road at this time.

https://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/dashboard/timing

-RoB-

[Joe Blake]

Congratulations to all. Brilliant performances. Now back to the drawing board(s) and start over again.;)