Competing to Make the World’s Most Efficient Solar Car – CNET

This year’s competition took place in the Australian outback. Competing solar vehicles were allowed 5kW hours of stored energy, that’s about 10% of what’s needed for the roughly 1,860 mile distance. The remaining 90% had to come only from the sun or from the kinetic energy of the vehicle itself: like how some cars use the energy from the brakes to recharge the battery.

Vehicles in the World Solar Challenge are divided into three classes: Challenger, Cruiser and Adventure. 

Challenger class vehicles travel the full 3,000 kilometers, stopping every day at 5 p.m. and making camp wherever they are. Cruiser class vehicles cover the same distance in 1,000-kilometer (or about 620-mile) stages. They have to hit specific time targets and seat at least two people, and they’re ultimately given a “practicality” score, based on things like design, environmental impact, ease of use, passenger comfort, controls, features, style and more. Adventure class is where cars made in previous competitions can come back for another round. 

Pitting these vehicles against one another in competition helps test and develop new battery types, solar cells and aerodynamic designs, some of which have been provided by major companies and some of which have been made by student engineers. It also provides a training ground for student engineers to test and refine their products, and to flex their skills.

As to whether solar-powered cars will become mainstream, that’s a much bigger question. And we’ll have to see how the solar cars leading the charge, like the Lightyear 0, the Sono Sion and the Aptera, deliver on their promised efficiency and convenience, and how they’re received by drivers.

To see footage of the World Solar Challenge vehicles in action, check out the video in this article.