Just two teams will represent the UK in next week’s World Solar Car Challenge, which kicks off in Darwin, Australia next week.
Cars from Durham University and Cambridge University will take part in the international event which sees solar-powered cars from around the world travel 3000km across the heartland of Australia to Adelaide on the south coast, using only solar energy and recovered kinetic energy alone.
Teams from the USA, Japan, Netherlands, Iran, Chile, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, Germany and Korea, to name a few have all entered solar cars into the challenge. They will be flagged off from Darwin on Sunday 16 October at 8.30 in the morning, with a total of 39 teams from 21 countries taking part.
It is the 11th year the event has run, with the Dutch Nuon Solar team expected to claim the title and arrive first in Adelaide. It would be their fifth World Solar Challenge win in six attempts. They have dominated past events, winning in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Their record was foiled in 2009 by the Japanese team from Tokai University.
Sponsored by Veolia, the event is the idea of the South Australian Tourism Commission.
The video above is from the Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER) team, sponsored by Intel, introducing their car and their entry into the challenge. Good luck to our British teams! The winner will be crowned at a awards ceremony on Sunday 23rd October in Adelaide.
