Fueled by Sunshine, U. of Michigan Car Wins 2,400 Mile Race

The University of Michigan Solar Car Team crossed the finish line first after traveling nearly 2,400 miles, (4,000 kilometers) from Plano, Texas to Calgary, earning Michigan's fifth national championship in nine races.

All drivers of the 15 solar cars that left Plano, Texas on July 13 pushed their vehicles as close to highway speed as possible since there was no need to conserve power for another day of racing.

The University of Michigan team escorts its winning entry across the finish line. (Photo courtesy NASC)

The first-place vehicle, University of Michigan's Continuum, crossed the finish line at 1:19 this afternoon. The car averaged around 45 miles per hour and led the race from the first day.

It was followed by the Midnight Sun Solar Race Team from Canada's Waterloo University at 1:47, Germany's FH Bochum car at 2:06, the University of Minnesota at 2:15, Principia College at 2:20, and Queen's University at 2:28.

The University of Calgary was the seventh car to cross the finish line with all team members jogging alongside the car at 2:33 pm to a roar of applause.

"We are just overwhelmed by the number of people who came out to cheer for us and welcome us back home," said U of C Solar Team operations manager Darshni Pillay. "This entire race has been a truly amazing experience for the entire team and we'd like to thank everyone who has supported us and followed us along this adventure."

To the University of Michigan team, the victory is sweet because it follows a disappointing seventh-place finish in the 2007 World Solar Challenge in Australia last October, when an early crash set the team back. No one was hurt. The students repaired the car and managed to pass two dozen teams, but not fast enough to win.

"This is a testament to the dedication of all the people who came back after the World Solar Challenge and rebuilt the car. Many of the systems were completely redesigned. We did a lot of testing and that, coupled with a strong team, got us this far. We strived for perfection," said race manager Jeff Ferman, who graduated in May from the U-M College of Engineering with a computer science degree.

"Coming off the World Solar Challenge, we wanted to show what the car was capable of. It led people to push themselves even harder for a comeback," Ferman said.

Computational power was one of the most important tools of Michigan's winning strategists. During the race, the strategists ran computer simulations to help determine the optimal speed at which to operate Continuum.

Another key to Michigan's successful race strategy was accurate GPS and route information, the team said. "This helped us plan ahead and save extra energy in the battery for those nasty hills," the team said on its blog.

A third winning tactic was testing. Performance of Continuum was characterized on Dana's and Chrysler's test tracks and at the Michigan International Speedway. The solar car visited Jacobs' and Chrysler's wind tunnels.

"This testing was essential for Michigan strategists to understand the performance of Continuum; it enabled us to drive fast without worrying (too much) about draining the battery back," the team blogged.

After celebrations for all teams tonight and a North American Solar Challenge wrap-up dinner at the Calgary Zoo on Wednesday evening, the teams plan to take a rest before gearing to start designing and building their cars for the next competition.

"We are bringing home so many lessons from this year's race that will help us immensely as we move forward into the third generation of our car," Pillay said. "The next North American Solar Challenge is only two years away so we have a lot of work ahead of us as our team continues to improve and become more competitive."

Official standings from the race will be available on the North American Solar Challenge website at: www.americansolarchallenge.org

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.