Japanese Green Car Wins Australian Solar Vehicle Race
2009-10-28 12:59
The “Tokai Challenger” reigns supreme in the world of solar racing. It won first place in a 1,800 plus mile solar vehicle race across the Australian outback on Wednesday the 28th. It beat out entries from the U.S. and the Netherlands.
It was a smooth run for the green machine with only one flat tire along the way.
[Chris Slewood, Event Organizer]:
"Absolutely fantastic, so here we are in Port Augusta probably an hour in front of where we thought we would be, Tokai has done a tremendous job and there is a fantastic battle going on for second and third about 150 kilometers (93 miles) up the road behind us."
A fleet of 31 solar-powered cars from 16 countries set off from Darwin, Australia last Saturday.
The Japanese team took the lead at the end of the first day, running ahead of favorites Infinium made by students at the University of Michigan and the Netherlands' Nuna V.
Belgium's Umicar “Inspire” from the Umicore Solar Team lost control in a wind gust and crashed about 240 miles into the race.
Competitors included the all-electric Tesla sports car, vehicles made by Ford, Kia, Honda, Hyundai, BMW, Skoda, Suzuki, Holden, and HSV, and a modified Honda postman's scooter running on alcohol.
This year the event was joined by the Eco Challenge. 17 cars from 10 manufacturers compete with eco-friendly vehicles to see which is the most fuel-efficient.
The race has been held every two years since 1987.
