Sunstang University Solar Team Abandons Solar for Near-Production Vehicle
Filed Under: FutureCars.com, green automotive technology on March 24, 2010
In brief: The University of Western Ontario’s Sunstang solar team, after 17 years of solar car competitions, switches gears away from solar for a near-production ready concept named for the team.
Vehicle in the news
Make/Model: Sunstang
Manufacturer: Sunstang Team, Univ W Ontario
The word
The team has re-evaluated the solar-powered vehicle engineering paradigm and realized that a saturation point has been reached wherein the cost:efficiency ratio has hit a peak and until new technologies come along with exponentially greater efficiencies than current solar modules, solar vehicle racing has reached a peak.
Shifting from that, the team decided to work on a production model electric car, but first they had to drop the solar panel obsession and instead, look at batteries.
The Sunstang is a concept that uses swappable batteries, made in modules that can be easily changed in a home garage (as well as recharged there). Solar panels couldn’t be completely dumped, of course, and appear now as a home charging station’s power source.
The team envisions the 3-wheeled, single-passenger commuter to be capable of being easily swapped at home or in service stations with batteries powering the 10.5kW motor. The car would be highway-ready at 83mph top speed and with a 124 mile range per charge (calculated at an average 75mph speed).
Yokohama Tire believes in the concept enough to have donated $10,000 towards its development. A prototype is underway and the team plans to drive it across Canada late in the summer to build exposure.
And so …
The design is complete and the Sunstang group is now working on prototyping. Note that true to their racing roots, the team calculated a high average speed for the range.
Photo credits: Univ of Western Ontario, Sunstang Team
