A team of students from the Netherlands’ Saxion University and the University of Twente are preparing to make final adjustments to their solar car at Charles Darwin University (CDU) for the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
Solar Team Twente held a trades workshop at CDU to prepare their most efficient solar car for the 3,021-kilometer challenge from Darwin to Adelaide, running solely on solar energy.
Solar Team Twente Technical Manager Tim Woertman stated that the team is finalising changes to their solar car for their journey starting on 22 October at State Square, Parliament House Darwin.
“We have prepared our car and team for several solar car races at CDU. Due to the constantly changing regulations, all teams are challenged each edition to come up with new innovations, and these innovations eventually contribute to the global sustainability of the mobility sector,” Woertman said.
The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge is the world’s largest solar challenge, held every two years in Australia; the team has competed in the global challenge since 2005, finishing fifth in 2017, and second in 2015.
RED X is Solar Team Twente’s tenth solar car. The bullet-shaped automobile, which took 10 months to design and build, has three wheels, four square metres of solar panels, and weighs only 140 kilograms.
The aerodynamic design of the car, measuring five meters long and 1.2 meters wide, ensures similar air resistance to a Coke bottle and a top speed of 130 km/h.
“At the start in Darwin there are usually about 38 teams from all over the world,” Solar Team Twente Journey Lead Kirsten Bouwman said. “We are competing in the Challenger Class, and hope to be the first over the finish line in Adelaide!”
