SOUTH AFRICA: MOTOR RACING - Japan and South Africa top Solar Challenge race

Record ID: 455620

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: MOTOR RACING - Japan and South Africa top Solar Challenge race
  • Date: 5th October 2010
  • Summary: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (OCTOBER 2, 2010) (REUTERS) SOLAR POWERED CARS ON THE ROAD VARIOUS OF THE JAPANESE SOLAR POWERED CAR ON THE ROAD JAPANESE SOLAR POWERED CAR DRIVING INTO THE INNOVATIONS HUB JOURNALISTS PERSON WEARING A T-SHIRT SAYING: "SHARP, SOUTH AFRICAN SOLAR CHALLENGE" JAPANESE DRIVER GETTING OUT OF CAR PEOPLE WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (English) KENJIRO SHINOZUKA, JAPANESE DRIVER SAYING: "We must (sic) develop this kind of a car for the future because we don't need petrol or electricity, all we need is the sunshine, this is very good for the eco, so therefore we must develop this kind of a car." JAPANESE TEAM CLOSING THE SOLAR POWERED CAR SOLAR PANEL SUN INNOVATIONS CENTRE SIGN READING: "INNOVATIONS HUB" UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG'S BAR-1 VEHICLE ENTERING THE INNOVATIONS HUB DRIVER UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG'S SOLAR POWERED VEHICLE WITH THE TEAM (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARCO FURRUTTER, UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG PROJECT MANAGER SAYING "You look at Toyota, they got Prius and Honda they have got the Insight and Mercedes is also going hybrid with some of their models and all of that. The car manufactures themselves, they are investing a lot of money into hybrid technologies, so what we have done here is definitely a possibility of commercialising it." ANOTHER SOLAR POWERED CAR MAKING AN ENTRY AT INNOVATIONS CENTRE CHILD TAKING PICTURES MORE OF SOLAR POWERED CARS MORE OF PEOPLE WATCHING VARIOUS OF THE JAPANESE NEXT TO CAR MORE OF THE SUNSHINE
  • Embargoed: 20th October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Science / Technology,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA941HRBJH68TPQP2GJ0S9J3WR4
  • Story Text: A Japanese team has won the South Africa Solar Challenge which ended in Pretoria this weekend. The race which has been described as one of the world's toughest alternative energy races, saw the vehicles travelling more than 4,000 kilometres across the country before finishing on Saturday (October 2).
    Japan's Tokai University with their 162 kilogram solar powered car set a new record for the event, travelling 4,061 kilometres purely on solar energy.
    "We must develop this kind of a car for the future because we don't need petrol or electricity, all we need is the sunshine, this is very good for the eco, so therefore we must develop this kind of a car," said Japanese driver, Kenjiro Shinozuka.
    Although, the University of Johannesburg did not win the race, they set a new alternative energy record by travelling 1,845.4 kilometres in one event in their vehicle, which was powered by a combination of petrol and hydrogen.
    They also went on to set the solar record for the distance travelled by a South African team in one stretch at 125 kilometres.
    Marco Furrutter, the project manager from University of Johannesburg, said there was growing interest internationally for hybrid technology and the solar challenge was a good place to get ideas.
    "You look at Toyota, they got Prius and Honda they have got the Insight and Mercedes is also going hybrid with some of their models and all of that. The car manufactures themselves, they are investing a lot of money into hybrid technologies, so what we have done here is definitely a possibility of commercialising it," said Furrutter.
    The ten day SA Solar Challenge has two categories which teams can enter; the Challenge Class category has a very strict criteria and covers all solar-powered vehicles and the Adventure category is open to all road vehicles using alternative fuel technologies, not only solar power.
    In order to qualify for the race, each team's vehicle is put through several technical inspections. Vehicles which fail to meet the requirements are not allowed to participate in the race. Through out the course of the race, each team is escorted by their respective support team and the vehicles are tracked and monitored.
    Teams must build their own cars and design their own engineering systems, but some of the car parts are are donated.
    Organisers were disappointed by the a lack of African competitors but are hopeful the 2012 event will attract more entrants, especially from other South African universities researching alternative energy sources.
    The aim of the bi-annual Solar challenge is to promote science and technology in southern Africa and to demonstrate the potential of renewable energy sources, not only for motoring, but other industries.
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