Dutch Solar Car ‘Nuna9’ won the World Solar Challenge 2017 Race at Average Speed of 81.2 kmh
Recently concluded Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2017 (BWSC) race got an astonishing winner from Dutch team who participated with a solar car ‘Nuna 9’.
The solar challenge spanning from 8th-15th October, this year is the 30 years from its inception 1987 and a 3,000 kilometer (1,860-mile) endurance adventure that occurs once every two years, was the hub of solar car innovations from across the globe.
Teams, with three classes of vehicle, Challenger, Cruiser, and Adventure, started their journey from Darwin start line on Sunday 8th October shown their world’s most efficient sustainable solar-powered electric vehicles.
Nuna9 Solar Car – The Winner of BWSC 2017 (Images credit: Nuon Solar Team / Facebook)
The solar cars in the race were mostly developed by universities or corporations, with teams hailing from around the world. They were allowed to store a small amount of energy but the majority of their power had to come from the sun and the vehicle’s kinetic forces.
The winner of BWSC 2017 under Challenger category, ‘Nuna 9’ solar car was built by the Nuon Solar Team with significantly smaller than previous generations. The first time in their sixteen years of journey, the team had removed the protruding front of Nuna and it has one solid piece of integrated Gallium Arsenide solar cells of just 2.64 sqm.
According to their official site, the Nuna9 is sized at 3.30m x 1.60m and weighs just at 135 kg (297 lbs). It has Michelin tires with a highly efficient In-Wheel motor that provides the required thrust. The 20 kg battery stores solar energy and is equipped with a high-tech 4 wiel remmen breaks.
Other Stunning Solar Cars in the Challenge (Images credit: BWSC 2017 / Facebook)
The sixteen students’ team of multidisciplinary from the Delft University of Technology had extensive worked on the project and built a single seat aerodynamic solar car for the World Solar Challenge 2017 for sustained endurance & total energy efficiency.
With technical knowledge, creative visions and practical course of action, team from Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Design, Applied Physics and Technical Management have won the race for the third-straight time, crossing the finish line on Thursday after travelling at an average speed of 81.2 kilometres per hour (55.5 mph).
The University of Michigan Solar Car Team has participated in 12 World Solar Challenges since their first trip in 1990. Along with the German and Dutch entrants, vehicles from Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States also crossed the finish line.
The German team HS Bochum with its stylish four-seater classic coupe, featuring sustainable materials such as vegan pineapple leather seats was the first to arrive while the futuristic family car “Stella Vie”, carried five people at an average speed of 69 kmh was also a major attraction to the event.
The fastest time was achieved by Japan’s Tokai University in 2009, completing the trans-continental race in only 29 hours and 49 minutes, according to Reuters.