Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Solar
Sydney’s University of New South Wales Sunswift team has worked on a number of solar-powered cars in the past, enough that they call themselves “Australia’s premier solar car racing team.” The team is headed in a new direction now, though, with the Eve, which dispenses with the ultra-efficient design meant to win races and instead moves a bit into “normal” car territory.
Project director Sam Paterson said in a statement that the Eve is intended to be more mainstream. “This year’s vehicle, unlike some of our previous models, has four wheels, doors and is designed to be safer and more practical. It departs from the typical spaceship design of most solar cars and looks like an actual car,” he said.
Actual performance details for the Eve are not yet available, but we expect we’ll hear more when the car is officially unveiled on August 9th. If you’re in Australia, or want to go, you can get tickets to the event through the crowdfunding site Pozible, where the team is collecting pledges to try and build the Eve. The team set a $20,000 (Australian) goal and is currently sitting at $15,390. For added geekiness, the Pozible page is full of Eve-centric memes.
The Sunswift team is made up of students from a variety of courses at UNSW (engineering, business, science and industrial design are the examples listed) and has been going since 1995. The Sunswift Eve is the team’s fifth-generation solar powered supercar.
Since the official Sunswift website loads sloooowly and causes an “unresponsive script” for some of the Autoblog team, we recommend connecting with UNSW over on their Facebook page. A short (30-second) video of the Sunswift Eve being unloaded is available below.
Continue reading Sunswift Eve is a solar car for everyone, maybe [w/video]
Sunswift Eve is a solar car for everyone, maybe [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Members of the United Auto Workers will once again protest the Detroit Auto Show this year. According to TheDetroitBureau.com, members of the union are upset about some of the concessions that the organization made when General Motors and Chrysler underwent bankruptcy. Now workers want those concessions back, even while both automakers struggle to protect profits and pay off sizable government loans. This comes as UAW President Bob King struggles to paint his union as a kinder, gentler labor organization. King has also made it clear that he wants the UAW to be part of the picture at manufacturing facilities owned by European and Asian automakers here in the states.