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Sun sets on 2023 challenge - Australia’s Sunswift top cruiser
29 Oct 2023
Streets ahead in the CSIRO Cruiser Class field, Sunswift Racing from Australia has claimed its first 2023 Cruiser Cup victory.
Taking an early points lead, and never threatened, they carried four passengers most of the way. Too strong for the rest of the field, going on to win the practicality judging was the icing on the proverbial cake. The solar electric car, Sunswift 7 impressed on the road and on the judging floor. Overall, second place went to USA University of Minnesota in Gaia and third place went to Estonia’s team Solaride, in Solaride 2.
To...
EXPERT PANEL JUDGES GREEN-TECH CRUISERS - OUR DRIVING FUTURE
28 Oct 2023
Cars of tomorrow, many packed with features you can expect to see on our driving horizon, were on show today in Adelaide’s Victoria Square.
The 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge CSIRO Cruiser Class category was judged today by an expert panel of adjudicators including industry leaders, BWSC alumni and faculty, climate change advocates, and media representatives. The Cruiser Class was introduced to bridge the gap between high end technology and everyday driving practicality. CSIRO Cruiser Class cars are judged on energy efficiency, passenger kilometres travelled, and design criteria that include interior comfort, features, and desirability. Judges were asked...
CRUISING INTO ADELAIDE
27 Oct 2023
The CSIRO solar electric Cruiser Class had their moment in the sun today – arriving on the City of Adelaide finish line from 1pm.
Leading the charge on energy efficiency points, Australia’s Sunswift 7, was the first to celebrate under the arch, followed by US Minnesota team in Gaia second place on the points tally.
Supporters of first time Estonian team Solaride were bowled over by the performance of their solar electric car, Solaride 2. The Solaride team was greeted by one of Australia’s most renowned fast bowlers, Brett Lee, who has been supporting the team...
BELGIANS INFINITE & THEIR FUTURISTIC FIN FLY HOME TO ADELAIDE
26 Oct 2023
They did it! Belgian Solar Team Innoptus has claimed back-to-back Bridgestone World Solar Challenge titles with a time of 34 hours, 4 minutes, and 41 seconds 48 minutes faster than their 2019 win.
Unlike the 2019 drama filled final day, today’s push to the finish line was smooth sailing for the Belgian team that has led almost the entire way from Darwin. The Belgian’s aerodynamic Infinite, with its futuristic fin designed for stability seemed to revel in the tough, windy conditions that proved challenging to many in the Proejcta Challenger Class.
The team crossed ahead of...
The women leading the solar car racing
25 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
Despite data showing girls outperform boys in many school classrooms around the world and are as likely – if not more – to go to university, women continue to be significantly underrepresented in tertiary science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs.
In employment, gender gaps in STEM fields tend to increase as a nation becomes more developed. American data suggests about 1 in 5 engineering parchments go to women, World Bank data shows women are outnumbered 1:2 in engineering enrolments. Representation is only slightly improved in ICT and...
Solar race tightens amid poor light, high winds expected on Wednesday
25 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
Image credit: Frankie the Creative
The Belgian solar car team Innoptus leads the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge on the third day of the event despite having its large lead cut.
After reaching Alice Springs faster than any team in the past decade, Innoptus’ pace dropped on Tuesday, with headwinds and low light levels slowing teams as they crossed into South Australia.
The event’s defending champions are camped in roughly the same position as they were on day 3 of the 2019 event – about 40km west...
PROVISIONAL UPDATE DAY 4 - HEADWIND HAVOC FOR CRUISERS AS INNOPTUS & TWENTE FLY TOWARDS HOME
25 Oct 2023
Unseasonal headwinds took the cruise out of the CSIRO Cruiser Class today with none of the competitive teams making the critical 5pm time point into the NRMA Control stop at Coober Pedy this afternoon.
Though half the field had made the first critical time point, driving nearly 1,000 km before charging, they were unable to complete the second stage.
As this is unprecedented, event officials are now considering how tomorrow’s final Cruiser stage will play out. Teams are now enjoying outback hospitality in the opal capital of the world, Coober Pedy. They’ll get a chance...
How many cars does it take to win a solar race?
24 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
How many cars does it take to win the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge? Surely, just one?
Of course, one car – the solar car – is the focal point, but the eventual winner will use at least two, and potentially up to a dozen vehicles to complete the event, which gets underway on Sunday 22 October.
At the heart will be, of course, the competition vehicle competing in one of the two categories as part of the event.
That solar car will, however, be surrounded by up to 10 other vehicles travelling as...
PROVISIONAL UPDATE DAY 3 - COOBER PEDY GEARS UP FOR AN OUTBACK WELCOME
24 Oct 2023
Early morning smoke and cloudy skies took the edge off yesterday’s pace as the field slowed slightly. The windy conditions gave the Belgian Innoptus team plenty of opportunity to show off their futuristic fin as they held the lead throughout the day.
Dutch team Twente in RED X have now more than halved the gap from the previous day to just 24 kilometres and extended their lead over compatriots and long-time rivals Brunel in Nuna 12 to around 90 kilometres. Will it be Twente’s year to shine? Or have they gone too early?
Tonight, six Projecta...
PROVISIONAL UPDATE DAY 2 - INNOPTUS INFINITE SETS A RED-HOT PACE AS SUN SETS ON DAY 2
24 Oct 2023
Teams are now making camp as the sun sets on Day 2 of the 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. With air temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Celsius for most of the day, and the cockpit around 50 degrees.
Belgian Innoptus Solar team in Infinite, with its futuristic fin, is setting a red-hot pace. Taking the lead an hour out of Darwin, the Belgians are now in Alice Springs, halfway to Adelaide, the record distance covered in two days since speed limits were imposed on the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory.
Around 67 kilometres off the lead pace is...
PROVISIONAL UPDATE DAY 1
23 Oct 2023
Belgian team, Innoptus set the pace in ‘Infinite’, with its revolutionary fin that can harness crosswinds, taking an early lead in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, reaching the first NRMA Control Stop at Katherine at 11.29 am Darwin time, leading the field by five minutes. Starting second on the grid, they set a blistering pace overtaking German team Sonnenwagen Aachen, signalling an early intent to lead from the front.
By the second NRMA Control Stop, Dunmarra, Innoptus, with an average speed of 96 kph, had extended their lead over Brunel in Nuna 12 to 13...
Charging towards the future…31 teams off to chase the sun…
22 Oct 2023
After a week of challenges for many teams, 31 teams from around the world took to the start line at State Square in Darwin today, Sunday 22 October for the 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
Projecta Challenger Class team, Sonnenwagen Aachen, from Germany in ‘Covestro Adelie’, had the honour of leading the field as they were flagged off at 8.00AM by the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Natasha Fyles. The team earned the right to pole position after posting the fastest lap time of 1:56:83, in yesterday’s time trials at Hidden Valley...
German team to lead world solar challenge away
21 Oct 2023
The German solar car outfit Sonnenwagen Aachen will lead away a fleet of solar-powered race cars in Darwin on Sunday after posting the fastest time in a dynamic qualifying session at Hidden Valley Raceway on Saturday morning.
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
The start of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, a 3,020km quest through the centre of Australia, pitches about 40 bespoke solar vehicles against one another.
Sonnenwagen Aachen – a collaboration between two German universities in the village near the Dutch border – was the fastest car overall, averaging about 88km/h around the circuit. For...
Why solar challenges? They’re in the DNA of Tesla, Google for starters
21 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
It’s a hot, steamy Saturday in Darwin, and I’m speaking to Cameron Tuesley. He’s the Founder-CEO of a Queensland-based digital and software company, Integral, and a co-founder and director of another called Prohelion.
He’s also a former competitor in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, a biennial technology and innovation initiative that requires competitors, which in 2023 come from about 20 nations, to design, construct and drive solar-powered motor vehicles more than 3,000km from Darwin to Adelaide on the Stuart Highway, through Australia’s...
World Solar Challenge: The teams, the cars, the contenders
21 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
As Cosmos covers the return of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge to the 3020km route from Darwin to Adelaide, science enthusiasts with a sporting soft spot might wonder which team deserves their support.
Fortunately, our guide gives you the ultimate rundown of the teams, their story and some very nicely designed cars.
The 2023 event gets underway on Sunday 22 October.
Challenger entrants – speed and efficiency
These sleek, fast cars will lead the event on Sunday morning. Teams design their cars to have as...
Thinking outside the cube: the solar team courting AWS, Audi and TV
21 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
Australia doesn’t have a Formula One team, but it does have a unique, high-performance outfit being run just like one.
Not in Supercars, or any other form of motorsport, but in solar car racing.
The team – Sunswift – is based out of the University of New South Wales in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. It made headlines earlier in the year after setting a world record as the fastest electric vehicle over 1,000km on a single charge.
That car, while more similar in shape to a sportscar than an F1...
Team Sonnenwagen Aachen takes pole, as grid positions decided…
21 Oct 2023
Team Sonnenwagen Aachen flew the German flag proudly today as its sleek Projecta Challenger class solar car, Covestro Adelie, claimed pole position with a hot lap speed of 88.4 kilometres per hour.
They will lead the field for tomorrow’s start of the 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
Their qualifying lap time was 1:56:83, ahead of Innoptus Solar Team from Belgium, whose solar car Infinite, posted a time of 1:57:81 (87.7 km per hour). The Netherland’s Brunel Solar Team in Nuna 12 posting a time of 1:59:76, (86...
SCRUTINEERING CHALLENGES THE 2023 FIELD
20 Oct 2023
It’s called a challenge for a reason! As the Sunday start line draws closer for competitors in the 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, some teams were still working to get their cars to Darwin! They will join the final few frantically working to get their cars through the Prohelion Static Scrutineering stage. Teams must pass all static scrutineering stations to prove they are ready to take to the track at Hidden Valley for the dynamic ‘hot laps’.
Teams of event scrutineers, BWSC alumni, scientists, and technical advisors have worked almost around the clock at the Darwin...
CSIRO to monitor grid impact during solar challenge
19 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
Australia’s top science agency will perform a set of experiments to monitor grid load in regional locations during the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
While the CSIRO’s energy systems research team will be contributing to the scoring process for the event’s ‘Cruiser’ class – a category of solar-powered passenger vehicles that will draw charge from the grid at control points along the 3,000km journey from Darwin to Adelaide – it will also monitor the way these vehicles interact with the grid.
Cruiser cars...
Aero guards cars against turbulence tumbles
18 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
Four years ago, speeding down the Stuart Highway in far north South Australia, two cars barrelled off the road at high speed.
The only damage to humans was dented pride. The cars were incredibly light, small and aerodynamic, clad in photovoltaic solar arrays and, prior to their untimely demise, were mixing it with the frontrunners in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, ‘racing’ from Darwin to Adelaide.
The reason they wound up with broken steering (and hearts) was due to diabolical 70km/h westerly wind gusts blowing across the highway.
Down...
Top Gun Tuesday - Scrutineering Showdown
17 Oct 2023
Today is the first behind-the-scenes look at the international ‘top guns’ together for the first time on the Prohelion Scrutineering floor.
A look under the hood of the Projecta Challenger Class reveals millions of dollars of high-end technology and closely guarded innovation teams are hoping will make the difference on the 3,000-kilometre proving ground that is the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
This follows the successful clearance of the first solar electric car to make it through 2023 scrutineering yesterday, with that honour going to debutante CSIRO Cruiser Class team entrant, Solaride, from Estonia, getting the green light...
Keeping cool, Swedish style
17 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
Photo Credit: JU Solar Team
It’s a good question, say the battery suppliers to the Swedish institutions racing in this month’s Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, when asked how electric vehicles should be optimised to work in Australian conditions.
Especially when Sweden is lucky to see maximum summer temperatures of about 25 degrees.
In contrast, temperatures in Katherine, 350 kilometres south of Darwin, are forecast to hit 40°C on Sunday, the first day of the event. Cabin temperatures could be a further 20 degrees above that...
Flinders Automotive Solar Team A class act
16 Oct 2023
With less than a week to go before the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, and with Prohelion Static Scrutineering ahead, it’s a challenging time for our BWSC teams as they tick off all the boxes on their to do lists.
Despite working around the clock in readiness for scrutineering, team members from the Flinders Automotive Solar Team (FAST) from Flinders University in Adelaide, are heading to Palmerstone Christian College in Darwin today, keen to share stories of their BWSC journey so far in the hopes of inspiring the next generation of students.
They took their solar electric car, Investigator...
Welcome to Country Saltwater Ceremony welcomes Solar teams
15 Oct 2023
With one week to go, the 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (BWSC) teams from around the world will be officially Welcomed to Country today by Traditional Owners, in a Saltwater Ceremony at Darwin Waterfront.
Larrakia Elder, Richie Fejo, will introduce and explain the ceremony to BWSC teams inviting them into the water to receive the Saltwater Blessing by Larrakia to welcome and protect them on their journey on Country.
Event Director, Chris Selwood AM, said the Ceremony is a wonderful way to bring such a culturally diverse group of people together to celebrate Country and pay respects to Traditional Owners...
World Solar Challenge returns after a four-year hiatus
13 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
University and industry teams from around the world will converge on Darwin in the north of Australia this week for the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
In the three decades since the first event in 1987, hundreds of institutions, entrepreneurs and auto manufacturers have entered an array of unusually shaped vehicles into this 3,000km ‘race’ through the arid heart of Australia.
Yet in 2023, the event finds itself in a new age. No more are electric vehicles a prototyping exercise – they’re available in showrooms across the...
Aussie teams build showroom-worthy solar cars
05 Oct 2023
By Matthew Ward Agius | Cosmos
Photo: UNSW Sydney / Richard Freeman
Three Australian universities are putting pedal to the metal with the construction of passenger cars powered primarily by the sun.
University teams from UNSW, Deakin and Flinders will compete in the upcoming Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in a unique category that demands production-style vehicles capable of transporting multiple passengers from Darwin to Adelaide.
The journey of more than 3000km through Australia’s Red Centre will be led by cars in the “Challenger” class – small, bullet-like single-occupant vehicles designed to operate as quickly...
