A more "conventional" solar car going around the world (2 passenger, 2 door)

[MetroMPG]

(Hopefully this isn't a re-post...)



(Currently in the southern USA...)

A german student engineering team is driving a solar powered car around the world.

Details on their site: SolarCar - SolarCar - Hochschule Bochum

It's a somewhat more "conventional" car than the no-holds-barred flat as an aerodynamic pancake solar racers we're used to seeing.

(Of course, only an EcoModder would call it "conventional" looking. )

The two-seater, 573 pound car [...] has a range of 170 miles when the 4.9 kWh lithium-ion batteries are fully charged from the 32 square feet of solar panels on the vehicle’s roof, though depleted batteries can be swapped for fully charged ones for additional range. That’s exactly what the team had to do outside of Brownsville, Texas, when a cloudy day kept the car from charging. From Texas, the car will follow the southern border of the US to Florida, then head north to South Carolina, stopping for public presentations all along the way. Then it’s an Atlantic crossing by boat to Gibraltar, a drive across Europe, Russia and China, and back to Australia by sea. The team hopes to have completed their journey by mid-October,

Source: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/02...n-a-solar-car/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNZZlnSEukw

[MetroMPG]

The vehicle specs:

SolarWorld GT - SolarCar - Hochschule Bochum

Vehicle Dimension
Length 4090 mm
Width 1600 mm
Height approx. 1335 mm

Vehicle Weight
Total Weight 260 kg

Aerodynamics
Front surface 1,71 m²
Coefficient of drag 0.137 cw

Motor Controlpanel

Manufacturer Tritium Max Power 100 A Weight 4 kg

Solar Generator
Manufacturer Azur Space
Cell type Gallium Arsenid
Performance ~ 1,1 W Cell efficiency ~ 29,2%

Records
Top Speed approx. 120 km/h

More specs:
SolarWorld GT - SolarCar - Hochschule Bochum

[Cd]

There are two posts on that car . I thought you might have seen them.
That car is truly amazing. Plenty of hip and headroom, a realistic ride height, two conventional doors, and a somewhat more ' normal ' shape.

Point fourteen drag coefficient. ( actually just under .14 )

POINT FOURTEEN !

[Cd]

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post284714

Page 26 or so. ( Thanks Neil ! )

The other post actually has " Solar World GT " in the title, but I'm having trouble finding it at the moment - using my phone to post this.

[NeilBlanchard]

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-gt-20385.html

It's got two hub motors in the front wheels. The range on the battery (I think they have a larger battery pack in it for the world tour?) is supposed to be 240 miles; though we don't know what speed. It apparently can drive all day if the sun is shining.

Awesome car, and I think Phil (aerohead) and someone else on the forum will be trying to get to see it on one of the stops in the USA.

[FXSTi]

Darren,

One of the joys of owning the forum is the ability to delete previous posts so you can say "I was first". Just sayin.

Kirk

[MetroMPG]

I'm not above admitting defeat!

I was away while most of that thread was going on, so locking this one (it's all duplication!).

Go to: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...4-a-20385.html