An Australian solar-powered car weighing a quarter that of a Tesla has provisionally broken the record for the fastest electric vehicle (EV) in the world.
Built from scratch by a group of 45 engineering students, the car travelled at an average speed of nearly 85 kilometres per hour and set the “unofficial” team record for the “Fastest EV over 1,000km on a single charge.”
Sunswift 7’s team overcame many hurdles to beat the previous record by six minutes, including a tyre puncture and battery issue causing the car to come to a complete halt.
The race cars were not allowed to stop for more than 15 minutes, so the team had to get moving just as quickly while at the same time fixing the battery, and returning to the track with just ten seconds to spare.
Sunswift 7’s manager and mechanical engineering student at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Andrea Holden said that the COVID-19 pandemic stalled their project including participation in another race, the biennial Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
“Two years ago, when we started to build this car, everything was going into lockdown and there were a lot of difficult moments.”
Fortunately, the students had the mentorship of Prof. Richard Hopkins who has previously won four Formula One world titles.
“These are not the best-paid professional car makers in Stuttgart working for Mercedes,” he said.
“This is a bunch of very smart amateurs who have taken all the ingredients and put it together in a brilliant way.”
“This team has focused on ultimate efficiency in order to break this world record. They have shown what is ultimately achievable if you concentrate on aerodynamics, rolling resistance, and the use of smart materials.”
According to UNSW, the energy consumption was just 3.8 kWh/100km, whereas EVs on the road today only achieve a rating of around 15kWh/100km.
EV Makers Currently Taking Losses
Hopkins noted that Sunswift 7 isn’t a production car of the future, since it is missing a host of features, such as airbags and air conditioning systems, and the cost is also prohibitive.EV makers have been slammed with sky-high operational costs worldwide due to the latest wave of inflation.
Several EV startups recorded significant financial losses in the last quarter including Lucid Group, which saw its market value drop by two-thirds, to about $20 billion this year, after hitting a peak of $95 billion in November 2021.
The EV industry and government policymakers have long claimed that prices would come down as battery packs became more efficient to manufacture.
However, many car owners are reluctant to switch from their combustion-powered cars, which are viewed as more mechanically reliable and cheaper to replace.
