Solar-Powered Road Trips?
Possibility Editorial
Solar car competitions show how innovations in battery efficiency and solar augmentations might take the EV revolution further
On October 22, an exceptional collection of vehicles from around the world will accelerate past the starting line of Australia’s World Solar Challenge. The highway between Darwin and Adelaide is more than a thrilling race to the finish line, it’s a sun-baked test of teams’ engineering skills in designing long-range solar cars.. Powered by less than 5 square meters of solar panels and a battery that can only have 5 kWh of stored energy at the beginning of the day, racers need to soak up the sun and fight air resistance at speeds of up to 130 km/h through nine checkpoints and 3,000 kilometers.
So, with competition this intense, are we all racing toward a future with solar cars?