Solar Car ‘Sunswift eVe’ Breaks 26-Year Old Speed Record

Most of us love our fossil fuel powered cars and bikes. They are fast, get the job done and practically have an unlimited range. But we also care about the environment. We want to have a efficient transport system, which is cleaner, and its fuel doesn’t burn through our pockets.

One of the major factors that prevent us from switching over to renewable energy powered vehicles is that there aren’t any real alternatives out there. The cheapest electric cars are still more expensive than their combustion engine counterparts and are not fast enough and do not have long ranges. But with the fuel prices reaching an all-time high, fresh blood has started bringing some real life changes in the world of battery powered or solar powered cars.

Sunswift eVe broke a 26 year old record for electric vehicles

Now a group of students at the University of New South Wales have achieved a feat that will help in pushing forward the alternative fuel vehicle technology. The Solar powered car known as Sunswift eVe has broken a 26-year old speed record for electric vehicles. The car registered a 500km run on a 100 km/Hour average speed, which is a big deal for a car taking sun’s energy to run. The test was organized at the Australian Automotive Research Center in Victoria.

The car is a work of art; the developers that it is capable of going around 800 kms on a single charge at a top speed of 140 Km/Hour which puts it up against the regular cars running on the road now, except for the fact that the car has zero emissions of any kind. The battery is capable of powering a car with 800-watt output. So once you buy a car; it is literally able to power itself on its own with a little help from the wall sockets.

Sunswift eVe’s engine is supplied by Australian national science agency CSIRO and is capable of running at 97 percent efficient, so essentially the car uses as much energy as a toaster. Also, the roof mounted solar panels make the car look futuristic. The car did the run with the solar panels covered as it had to achieve 500 KM on a single charge, and it did complete its mission.

Project director and third-year engineering student Hayden Smith hopes that “with this practical demonstration about the capability of a solar car, someday soon the car would rule the roads of the world.” The car will have to go through a lot of certification procedures for safety features to become street legal. The team aspires to inspire and encourage the younger generations to start thinking about solar cars.

The team wants to inspire younger generations to work on solar cars

The biggest hindrance in these forms of research is the massive blockades setup big oil corporations. There are many ways these giants impede progress of such technology by buying out the companies and interest and shutting the projects down. They also ferociously prey on essential technology patents and in the process restrict their use from people who cannot compete such patent hoarding.

Standing up against them is folks like Elon Musk, who recently released all his electric vehicle patents for anyone to use. His reason for this action is that we all have to live in one boat, and it has holes, so if someone has a technology that can help in making the best bucket to get the water out while you do the repairs, then you should share that knowledge with everyone.

It’s time the car manufacturers dealing with heavy losses, due to high-fuel costs, learn their lessons. Being environment friendly completely in their favour, as right now the company which will provide the best alternative to combustion engine will rule the market in coming years. Let the race begin.