- Title: 5-seater solar car going for glory
- Date: 13th July 2017
- Summary: EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS (JULY 5, 2017) (REUTERS) STELLA VIE, CREATED BY SOLAR TEAM EINDHOVEN, BEING TESTED BEATRIX BOS, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND FINANCE MANAGER, SOLAR TEAM EINDHOVEN, WITH TEAM MEMBER AND STELLA VIE CAR SOLAR ROOF PANEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEATRIX BOS, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND FINANCE MANAGER, SOLAR TEAM EINDHOVEN, SAYING: "This is Stella Vie, and this is our third solar-powered family car. Stella and Stella Lux were four-seater cars, but now we've built for the first time a car that suits five persons, so a whole family. That's actually quite new in a car. Besides that we have one square metre less solar cells. So even though we have one square metre less and we can't produce as much energy, we still are more efficient, so we still can drive the same range." VARIOUS OF STELLA VIE CAR STELLA VIE WHEELS MORE OF CAR ROOF (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEATRIX BOS, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND FINANCE MANAGER, SOLAR TEAM EINDHOVEN, SAYING: "In Stella Vie there are two in-wheel motors in the front wheels and they make sure that we can drive 130 kilometres an hour. So that's great for the Dutch roads, that's the max speed limit. Now she is five metres longer. Before she was a bit shorter. But she is smaller (in width)." STELLA VIE BEING TESTED POINT OF VIEW OF DRIVER STELLA VIE DRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEATRIX BOS, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND FINANCE MANAGER, SOLAR TEAM EINDHOVEN, SAYING: "As you can see, for the first time we've got a really curved roof and in our former cars we really had a flat roof, so that was quite strange and now we hope to get more like a normal car view. So the curved roof is as well, much better for the aerodynamics. So it's not only aesthetically better as well technical better." STELLA VIE DRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAAN ROORDINK, SOFTWARE ENGINEER - STRATEGY, SOLAR TEAM EINDHOVEN, SAYING: "We are using a smaller battery. Even then we still manage to get the same range because on a sunny summer day in the Netherlands we can make a range of 650 miles on a very small battery, which is about 12 kilowatt hours. Just for comparison some Tesla models have a 100 kilowatt hour battery." STELLA VIE BEING TESTED POINT OF VIEW OF DRIVER (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAAN ROORDINK, SOFTWARE ENGINEER - STRATEGY, SOLAR TEAM EINDHOVEN, SAYING: "It's got a special solar navigation, which not only takes into account the shortest route like a normal navigation system will do, but it also takes into account weather forecasts and calculates the most efficient route." STELLA VIE BEING TESTED (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAAN ROORDINK, SOFTWARE ENGINEER - STRATEGY, SOLAR TEAM EINDHOVEN, SAYING: "If you have to park you, of course, want to park your car in the sun because you can charge your battery then. But if you parked the car for a couple of hours then those shadows might rotate, they might change, and suddenly an hour later your car might be in the shadows. So we're developing a system which helps the user try to find the most optimal parking spot." STELLA VIE STATIONARY STELLA VIE DRIVER WEARING HELMET STELLA VIE REVERSING ROOF PANEL POINT OF VIEW OF DRIVER STELLA VIE DRIVING
- Embargoed: 27th July 2017 12:50
- Keywords: solar car solar sun Eindhoven TU/e renewables electric car
- Location: EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS
- City: EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0016PJX4KB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A student solar racing car team says its newly-created five-seater model has two purposes - to win the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) its third successive Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (WSC) and to make sun-powered vehicles sexy.
Solar Team Eindhoven's Stella Vie has fewer solar panels than its previous four-seater models - Stella and Stella Lux - but spokesperson Beatrix Bos insists this is no problem.
"Even though we have one square metre less solar panels and we can't produce as much energy, we still are more efficient, so we still can drive the same range," she told Reuters.
The 375 kilogram (827 lbs) car is designed to travel for 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) on a Dutch summer day on a single charge.
"There are two in-wheel motors in the front wheels which mean we can drive 130 kilometres an hour," said Bos.
Stella Vie also has a curved roof.
"In our former cars we had a flat roof. The curved roof is better for aerodynamics. It's not only aesthetically and technically better," she said.
Software engineer Daan Roordink is in charge of the logistics of getting the 5 metre (16.4 ft) long and 1.65 metre (5.4 ft) wide car to Australia for the race through the Australian outback.
According to Roordink, "we are using a smaller battery but still manage to get the same range. On a sunny summer day in the Netherlands we have a range of 650 miles on the battery, which is about 12 kilowatt hours. By comparison some Tesla models have a 100 kilowatt hour battery."
The team has developed a parking navigation system that takes account of the position of the sun.
"Its special solar navigation not only takes into account the shortest route like a normal navigation system will do, but also weather forecasts to calculate the most efficient route," said Roordink.
He added: "You want to park your car in the sun because it can charge your battery. But if you park for a couple of hours your car might be in the shadows. So we're developing a system which helps the user find the optimal parking spot."
The team of 23 students will defend its world title in the bi-annual, solar-powered WSC contest that runs 3,000 kilometres through the Australian outback, from October 8 to 15. Teams race from Darwin to Adelaide in three classes: Challenger, Cruiser and Adventure. Solar Team Eindhoven will compete in the Cruiser Class for practical cars. Tournament criteria include technical innovation, battery consumption and number of occupants. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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