With our race day starting in 30 minutes, there are still clouds in the sky, though rain that moved in overnight has let up for now. We don’t expect too much rain today, but there should be clouds all the way to our next stop, Glendambo. The weather vehicle we are in is rolling out now, so this is all for our brief update!
The team’s Australian Mock Race started today from the outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia. While the Global Green Challenge will start from Darwin in the Northern Territory and end in Adelaide, race regulations prevent us from traveling on the race route in the Northern Territory before the race. Therefore, our Mock Race is from Adelaide to the Northern Territory border and back, a distance of 2435 kilometers (over 1500 miles).
Today’s race day started just after 11 AM–while the first day of the race starts at 9:00 AM, we were delayed in our car preparations due to our batteries not arriving from the US until Monday. Nevertheless, we started out from Adelaide and were instantly met with cloudy weather. Starting with a full battery pack, we were able to move at a reasonable pace; however, with no end to the clouds in sight, we had to move forward cautiously. It would be unfortunate to run out of energy in our batteries before we could get to the sun of the Australian outback to recharge.
This being our first running of the car in Australia, we did run into a number of minor electrical gremlins that put us on the side of the road three times, and had to bleed our brake system while pulled over as well. The likely cause of the electrical problems, a loose connection within our battery control modules, was diagnosed while examining the batteries at the end of the day, so we hope not to encounter this problem again tomorrow.
As we neared Port Augusta, the edge of the continent, we finally managed to escape the clouds. Unfortunately, the sky refused to clear up–sand and dust, kicked up by the wind, blanketed the sky and prevented us from getting any sunlight. We could see clear blue at the top of the sky, though the sand still blocked the sun.
We pulled into Port Augusta at 4:42 PM and ended the race day at 5:10 PM, having served 28 minutes of our 30-minute control stop. Our late start, the clouds and sand, and gremlins on the car all prevented us from getting as far as we had wished. Fortunately, we still have a good amount of charge left in our battery pack and are nearing the end of the sandstorms. For those who are curious, sand storms that passed through Port Augusta last week were part of the same system that blanketed Sydney with sand last week:
We will start tomorrow morning at 8:10 AM, and will serve the final two minutes of our control stop before leaving for Glendambo. We hope for less sand and fewer clouds tomorrow, though right now the weather does not look too promising.
-Steve Hechtman, Race Manager
Posted from the Port Augusta McDonalds, one of the few businesses in Australia with free wi-fi
A bonus video with a very appropriate title, a favorite of the Continuum team:
Today the Race Crew in Australia left the comfort of Prince Alfred College in Adelaide to begin a practice race across the outback. Over the course of this week, the team will race Infinium on The Stuart Highway from Adelaide to the border of the Northern Territory and back. The mock race will give them one last chance to practice caravan maneuvers, race strategy, and quick vehicle maintenance on the side of the road. Most importantly, it will confirm the team’s expectations of the vehicle as they will be in full race mode, ensuring Infinium is reliable for the World Solar Challenge. While the team is traveling through the outback, internet will be few and far between, but there should be an update every night on the team’s progress. The team should already be on the road right now, so let’s wish them a safe and successful trip.
In order to meet the challenges of transporting our 20-person Race Crew and many of our spare parts across Australia, the Solar Car Team requires a fleet of versatile vehicles for its race caravan. The University of Michigan team would like to thank Ford Australia for supporting the team by lending us four vehicles that satisfy even the toughest of the race’s demands in the upcoming Global Green Challenge.
The team’s semi trailer approaches Ford Australia’s Head Office
During the afternoon of September 18th, Ford Australia hosted the team at its Head Office in Melbourne. Infinium and two of the four vehicles Ford Australia provided to the team were on display outside of the Head Office, and we had the pleasure of meeting with many Ford employees. Ford Australia’s President and CEO, Marin Burela, joined us to see the solar car and to wish us luck in the Global Green Challenge. Mr. Burela, who previously oversaw Ford’s small cars operations globally, spoke excitedly about the Ford Fiesta and Ford’s other fuel-efficient vehicles that will be taking part in the Global Green Challenge’s eco-car event. Our team is looking forward to competing alongside the consumer vehicles entered into the challenge.
Ford Australia President and CEO Marin Burela speaks with Solar Car Team members
Of the four vehicles Ford Australia is providing to the team, the Ford Territory SUV is a perfect fit for the needs of our Lead, Chase, and Weather vehicles. With three rows of seating, each Territory can carry either seven passengers or five passengers with ample room for extra equipment. The 30 storage compartments in each car provide plenty of space for any spare parts or tools we may need. Our Chase vehicle even has an LCD screen mounted to the ceiling, so our strategists will be able to use the screen to display telemetry data coming from Infinium. The last of the four support vehicles, Scout, is a Ford Ranger pickup capable of hauling a large cargo load plus a full cab of team members. With these quality vehicles and the generous support from Ford Australia, our team caravan is well-prepared to respond to the challenges we will face in the outback.
Solar Car Team with Lead vehicle, a Ford Territory
Greetings from Adelaide, South Australia, where the team will call home while we prepare for next month’s Global Green Challenge. Last week, our team left Michigan for the 10,000 mile journey to Australia. After some time spent overcoming jet-lag and moving our equipment through international customs, we have settled in to our workspace-away-from-home at Prince Alfred College (PAC) in Adelaide. We are grateful once again this year for the support of PAC, which has provided us the facilities in which we can work as a team. It is great to be reunited with all of our friends and supporters in Adelaide, and we are surely looking forward to the rest of our stay here.
Jeff Rogers and Josh Feldman wind wires in front of the semi trailer at Prince Alfred College.
Our arrival in Adelaide reminds us of how far we have come, and we must thank all of those who have allowed us to achieve so much. The efforts of all of our team members, advisors, faculty members, sponsors, friends, families, and other supporters have all been instrumental in the creation of Infinium.
We would like to especially thank two of our Platinum Sponsors for making our travels during the past week possible: Delta Air Lines, for supporting our air travel to Australia through their new Los Angeles to Sydney flight, and Ford of Australia, for providing us with four vehicles to transport team members and equipment during the race. Stay tuned to hear more about our adventures from the past week!
On behalf of the Solar Car Team, I would like to welcome everyone back to campus. I’m looking forward to meeting with all the returning team members and welcoming new students to the team. The car will be visible on campus the first weeks of September. If you are interested in joining the team, please look for us at the following events around campus:
