The Solar Team Eindhoven (STE) of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) presented the world's first solar-powered family car. "Stella" is the first "energy-positive car" with room for four people, a trunk, intuitive steering and a range of 600 kilometers (373 miles). This is the car being entered by the student team in the Cruiser class of the World Solar Challenge that starts in Australia in October 2013.
"Stella" was created by a team of 22 students from the University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Stella is the first solar car with four seats with a range of 600 km (373 miles) per charge ! It combines an aerodynamic design with lightweight materials, such as carbon fiber and aluminum.
Stella will get the official certification for road use, becoming street legal and will be for sale in Europe.
It's a solar racer car that seats four. The battery pack is the "spine" between the seats, and the range of ~370 miles - without the sun shining, I presume?
So, it is not fully equivalent to a typical car and yes the doors and the roof are obviously deflecting. I would love to see a slightly taller version - it could take a nod in the direction of the Schlörwagen, or Sven7's Linner Strømlinet Vogn.
This car is probably in the ~50Wh/mile area, and the solar PV is likely ~1,000-1200W, so a Leaf would need *at least* 4X as much energy to be even close to self-sustaining.
Weight of Stella is 380 kg (830 pounds), and battery capacity is 15 kWh; according to Jelmer333 on their Youtube channel. That means the it is <41Wh/mile. Oh, and they are using Marand hub motors that are ~98.3% efficient.
Think about that - that is about 44X less waste than a typical ICE.
Has anybody tried this before? It seems simple enough. I find it curious that this is so low while it seems that the more "economical" a car is supposed to be, the taller it is, and I think the smartcar is the tallest.
I was just curious how the front skirts affected the steering. The wheels do not seem to be very far inside the body and it appeared to steer fine, although I did not pay enough attention to notice the body sway, I just wanted to see the front wheels while turning.
If someone who speaks Dutch can answer this - the video shows the Stella with the solar PV cells covered up, and my guess is that they are testing the battery and the drivetrain as a 'stand alone' system?
The rollcage is a new addition since the last video, and it seems to have stabilized the whole structure.
Has anybody tried this before? It seems simple enough. I find it curious that this is so low while it seems that the more "economical" a car is supposed to be, the taller it is, and I think the smartcar is the tallest.
Not really... shorter cars just tend to be made taller to give them decent comfort (seats closer together... passengers have to sit more upright).
The Mirage has the best drag coefficient in the class (versus Spark et al), but they made it longer and lower than your typical Euro/Asian supermini.
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