Solar cars begin gruelling race across Australian desert
SYDNEY: The World Solar Challenge began on Sunday with 42 solar cars crossing Australia’s tropical north to its southern shores, a gruelling 3,000 km race through the outback.
The race from Darwin to Adelaide is expected to take a week for most cars, with speeds of 90-100 kmh powered only by the sun.
The fastest time was achieved by Japan’s Tokai University in 2009, completing the transcontinetal race in only 29 hours and 49 minutes.
Belgian team Punch Pow- ertrain started first on Sunday after recording a trial time of 2:03.8 for 2.97 km, with an average speed of 83.4 kmh.
But reigning 2015 champions Nuon from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands believes it has a good chance of retaining the prize.
Race director Chris Selwood said the biennial event has attracted one of the best fields ever, with teams from more than 40 countries. “They have been drawn to the challenge of new regulations which reduced the solar array size without limiting the size of the solar car,” he said.
Teams come from countries including India, the US, Japan, Germany, Chile, Netherlands, UK, Malaysia, Belgium, Sweden, Iran, South Korea, Hong Kong, South Africa and Australia.
The Northern Territory minister for tourism and culture, Lauren Moss said her government’s A$250,000 (US$194,150) sponsorship of the race showed it was committed to achieving 50% renewable energy for the territory by 2030.