500 km on single battery charge: Students successful in electrified car world record attempt
(Phys.org) —A team of UNSW students has violated a 26-year-old world speed record*, potentially establishing their Sunswift car as the fastest electrified vehicle over a distance of five hundred kilometers, on a single battery charge.
The world record was violated this afternoon by the team at a racetrack in Geelong, Victoria.
The car achieved an average speed of more than one hundred km/h during the attempt, bettering the previous world record of 73km/h.
However, no definitive numbers can be issued until the record is officially approved by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), world motorsport’s governing figure.
The last time an FIA world record was set in Australia was in April one thousand nine hundred eighty four in a production based petrol engine sedan. Further to this the most latest Australian record was set in March one thousand nine hundred ninety four by Rosco McGlashan in a jet powered vehicle, according to the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, who supervised the attempt.
One of the professional drivers involved in the world record attempt, Garth Walden, said: "As a racing driver you always want to be on the podium and it’s not everyday you get to break a world record. I indeed liked suspending out with the team and being part of history." "This record was about establishing a entire fresh level of single-charge travel for high-speed electrified vehicles, which we hope will revolutionize the electrified car industry," said jubilant project director and third-year engineering student Hayden Smith.
The students are from UNSW’s Sunswift, Australia’s top solar car racing team. Their vehicle eVe is the fifth to be built and raced since the team was founded in 1996.
Earlier versions of the Sunswift car have been used to set a world record for the fastest solar powered road tour from Perth to Sydney, and a Guinness World Record for the fastest solar car.
The team hopes the car’s spectacle today proves it is ready for day-to-day practical use.
"Five hundred kilometers is pretty much as far as a normal person would want to drive in a single day," Smith said. "It’s another demonstration that one day you could be driving our car."
No secret has been made of Sunswift’s long-term goals for the car. They expect it to meet Australian road registration requirements within as little as one year, and have previously said its zero-emission solar and battery storage systems make it "a symbol for a fresh era of sustainable driving".
The current car uses solar panels on the roof and spandex hood to charge a 60kg battery. However, the panels were switched off during today’s world-record attempt, leaving the car to run solely on the battery charge.
The vehicle was put to the test on a Four.Two kilometer circular track at the Australian Automotive Research Centre, located about fifty kilometres outside Geelong, Victoria.
Almost a quarter of the Sunswift team – which comprises sixty undergraduate students – made the tour to Victoria to support the world-record attempt.
More information: Note: * Subject to FIA homologation (approval).
