Solar electric car wins 3,000 km race

Australia Thanks to a unique wing design, a Belgian racing team's solar-powered car won a 3,000-km race despite bushfires and volatile weather.

For the second year in a row, a Belgian team took first place in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (BWSC), a race in Australia that features dozens of cutting-edge solar-powered vehicles. The BWSC takes place every two years and involves teams of engineers and students from around the world developing and driving solar-powered vehicles from Darwin to Adelaide.

In the Challenger class, which the Belgian team won, the single-seater cars are only allowed to have one driver at any given time, although teams can swap drivers as many as six times if necessary. The race runs from 8am to 5pm, and teams must be self-sufficient, camping along the track at night, carrying everything they need to keep their cars running. If the driver weighs less than 80kg, weights can be added to meet the minimum weight.

In the last event in 2019, the Belgian team won after the lead Dutch-built car caught fire. This year, the Belgian team Innoptus maintained a tight lead over the Dutch team for most of the race, finishing in 34 hours, 4 minutes and 41 seconds. That was a huge improvement, almost 5 minutes faster than in 2019. The Dutch team Twente finished second in 34 hours, 24 minutes and 58 seconds.

Cars competing in the race cannot be larger than 5 meters (16 feet) in length or 2.2 meters (7.5 feet) wide, and must have at least three wheels. The solar panels that power the cars cannot be larger than 4 square meters (14 square feet). That was a challenge for teams along the route this year due to smoke from the wildfires.

“We arrived in Adelaide first because we followed our strategy for 3,000km,” said Innoptus team manager Cedric Verlinden. “We had to anticipate many factors: bushfires along the track, which meant less fuel, and other issues like cloud cover and the constantly changing weather. But we stuck to our strategy and anticipated every moment to ensure we finished first in Adelaide.”

Innoptus members attribute part of their success to the unique wing design on the Infinite's top. The wing is designed to help the car stay stable in the face of crosswinds. This is the 10th car the Belgian team has built for the BWSC series since 1987.

An Khang (According to New Atlas )

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