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Gizmodo has been supporting the University Of Western Sydney’s push to build a Solar Challenge car for this year’s Sun-powered race between Darwin and Adelaide. After much hard work, careful planning and many scrunched up pieces of paper over late nights, we’re proud to help introduce you to this year’s medal contender: The Solace — proudly supported by Gizmodo.
Support the UWS Solar Challenge Team! If you have marketing/sponsor dollars (hello car makers, telcos and electronics multinationals) or engineering support to donate, please contact Greg at UWS Solar Car.
The Challenge
25 engineering and industrial design students from UWS are working together to build a car powered entirely by the sun, ready for a race across the spine of Australia. In October next year the team will race the car from Darwin to Adelaide as the underdog, pitted against better funded rivals.
Quantum Of Solace
Greg Hatten has been fearlessly pushing the team forward over the last six months to build a car that could not only make the dangerous and enormous trip along the race route, but one that could win against better funded rivals.
Rule changes, university challenges, work commitments and cash flow dramas plagued the team, and at one stage, the dream of winning the Solar Challenge looked out of reach.
Our team decided it was time for a radical new approach, so it threw out the plans for the car and all the hard work they had done over the last 20 weeks and started again, from scratch.
New designs mean new ideas, and these new ideas are coming from some of the most talented designers and engineers in the world. One of the team members worked on the submarine that safely carried James Cameron down to the bottom of the ocean floor, and into the record books. Another member — the designer — worked on some of the world’s most successful yachts, including the Wild Oats and the Alfa Romeo team boats for the Sydney to Hobart races. These are genius-level individuals, all working towards one goal: first place.
This thing is no longer just sketches in CAD software. It’s being built by the best in the business as you read this. Between now and race day, we’ll be bringing you the latest information on the Solace and its quest for pole position.
You can follow UWS’ Solar Challenge on Facebook and Twitter.
Our team still needs sponsors, so if you’re keen to help the underdog get a leg up in this amazing contest, contact Greg at UWS Solar Car.