The University of Michigan student-run solar car team took home the gold covering 2095.5 miles (3372 km) at 37.51 mph (60.3 kmph) over 8 days in the latest Electrek American Solar Challenge 2024. The top spot placing came after a car roll on day one of the qualifier round damaged the engine, almost knocking the team out of the competition.
The Electrek American Solar Challenge 2024 attracted over 30 student-run teams from the U.S. and Canada to the eight-day competition that began on 20 July in Nashville, Tennessee, and ended in Casper, Wyoming on 27 July. The primary route has 1562.2 total miles to complete, plus seven optional loops for teams to earn additional points. Vehicles must average at least 35 mph for the event.
This year’s winner of the single-occupant vehicle class is the University of Michigan student team with its Astrum solar car. It completed 2095.5 miles (3372 km) at an average speed of 37.51 mph (60.3 kmph), followed by the team from Canada’s École de technologie supérieure with 2004.5 miles, and in third place, the Illinois State University solar car team with 1504.3 miles.
The winning team’s spokesperson told pv magazine that the team’s biggest technical challenge came in the qualifier race after a motor failure on day two, the result of damage experienced when the car rolled on the previous day. It was replaced in time and the team went on to complete the qualification rounds.
Astrum is a 3-wheel carbon fiber monohull design with a mandatory roll bar that measures 5 m*1.2 m *1.0 m. It has a 20 kg lithium-ion battery. Its 2 kW motor from Japan’s Mitsuba is powered by a 4m2 solar array featuring Maxeon Sunpower Gen 3 and Gen 7 solar cells.
The team will be taking Astrum to the next Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia in 2025. Last year it finished in fourth place, just behind the student teams from Belgium’s Leuven University, Dutch Team Twente and the United Kingdom's Brunel.
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