UNSW Sunswift 7 wins Cruiser class of Bridgestone World Solar Challenge
Locally designed, built and developed solar car wins its biggest prize yet as the weather upsets proceedingsThe University of New South Wales (UNSW) has added another feather to its already impressive cap of solar race car achievements by winning the Cruiser Class of the Bridgestone World Solar Car Challenge.
Having rolled out of Darwin on the revised departure date of October 22 the UNSW’s student-built Sunswift 7 was in a strong position on day four of the competition with a healthy lead in its class – both on the road and on points – before outback winds wreaked havoc on the event, forcing all five teams to miss the nominated time cut-off in Coober Pedy.
With the entire class out of the overall competition, race organisers announced the final category results would be based on the standings from the previous checkpoint at Tennant Creek, meaning Sunswift was named the winner.
Unlike the elite categories, where it’s all about stopping the clock in the shortest time, victory in the Cruiser Class is decided by a combination of points based on considerations like the car’s energy consumption, practicality, crew size and of course speed – or more specifically, stage times.
Sunswift was well ahead in terms of outright pace before the premature end to proceedings and had a healthy points lead ahead of final scrutineering, which focused on criteria like design innovation, environmental impact, ease of access and egress, occupant space and comfort, ease of operation, versatility, style and desirability.
When all was said and done, Sunswift finished on top of the rankings to become the first Australian team and car to win the Cruiser Class ahead of the University of Minnesota in second and Team Solaride from Estonia in third.
“I could not be more proud of this team for what they have achieved,” Sunswift Racing team principal Professor Richard Hopkins said.
“The work the students have done is simply amazing and I can only say positive things because they have been so focused and committed and professional.
“We were the fastest car in the pre-race time-trial, we were ahead on the road, we were ahead on points and we travelled further than any other team.”
Regular readers might recognise the Sunswift 7 as the same UNSW-built vehicle that set a new Guinness World Record as the ‘Fastest Electric Vehicle over 1000km on a single charge’ late last year.
From there it was only natural that both the team and the car took to the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, and now with that achievement in the bag, the students are turning their attention to the next chapter of UNSW EV innovation: the Sunswift 8.
“Sunswift 8 won’t just be a hybrid, it will be a tri-brid, utilising solar, batteries and hydrogen fuel cells in combination,” Prof Hopkins said.
“It means the car could potentially run on all three of those technologies, or just one at a time.
“Potentially there will be a little dial on the steering wheel to select which is being used.”
At this stage it’s looking like the Sunswift 8 will take the form of a two-seater sports car that’s expected to be capable of lapping Mount Panorama within 30 seconds of a Gen3 Supercar and potentially underpinned by a hemp platform rather than carbon-fibre.
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