Stanford Students Unveil Solar Car for Australian Outback Race

Photo courtesy of Stanford

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By Bay City News Service

Stanford University students Friday will unveil a solar car that will take part in a race across the Australia outback, university officials said Wednesday.

The public unveiling will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the university’s Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory, 473 Oak Road, Stanford.

University officials said solar car racing improves automotive, solar and solar electric technology.

The car, named Arctan, weighs just 400 pounds and has half the wind resistance of a cyclist. The average weight for a gas or diesel powered vehicle was 4,015 pounds in the 2013 model year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Arctan can cruise at more than 50 mph on solar power only, according to the university.

Students will take Arctan to Australia in October for the 2015 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, a 2,000-mile race. University officials said it’s the world’s most competitive and challenging solar car race, which includes 47 teams from 25 countries.

A team of nearly 50 students worked together on Arctan this year, according to the university.

“We expect to do well in the race and grow even closer together as a team as we carry out what our engineering director Darren Chen calls ‘The Dream,’” team leader Guillermo Gomez said.