A Western Sydney University team has won the American Solar Challenge (ASC), becoming the first international and first Australian solar car crew to do so.
Their electric vehicle Unlimited 2.0 won four out of five stages of the gruelling 2800km race across four US states from Nebraska to Oregon.
Unlimited 2.0 did the trip in 37 hours 55 minutes – about 16 minutes quicker than runners-up and main rivals the University of Michigan team.
The achievement is incredible – especially considering WSU’s small team of 14, the university’s school of computing, engineering and mathematics manager Michael Walsh says.
“Most teams had about 20 to 30 people.”
Walsh says the race was physically gruelling for the Western students, alumni and volunteers involved, with racing daily from 9am to 6pm, then maintaining and charging the EV each night – leaving little time for sleep.
“Successfully completing the American Solar Challenge is a hugely rewarding accomplishment and has required over a year of intense focus and hard work from every team,” Walsh says.
The heat, dust, steep mountain climbs, narrow canyons and hurtling descents proved no problem for the WSU solar car team.
A flat tyre and electrical issues cost them only one stage, which was won by the University of Michigan.
The WSU team had some good preparation, finishing sixth in a 3000km trek from Darwin to Adelaide as part of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (BWSC) in October 2017.
The next BWSC is on October 13-20, 2019. Entries are now open for the event, expected to attract 45 teams from more than 20 countries.
WSU intends building a new solar car for that.
