Solar Team Eindhoven’s Stella Era solar car crossed the line in Adelaide on Friday. Since the team’s efficiency score is higher than its competitors, the team can be declared the winner in the Cruiser class on Saturday.
The solar car of Solar Team Eindhoven crossed the finish line in Adelaide on Friday as the second car in the Cruiser class. Team Sunswift from the Australian University of New South Wales came in earlier. These are the only two teams in the family car standings to arrive on time and not receive any penalty points.
The Eindhoven University of Technology team achieved an efficiency score of 111.7 points with Stella Era, which puts the competitors well behind. For example, Team Sunswift got 56.1 points and Team IVE from Hong Kong got 44.2 points. The final efficiency score was determined by the number of passenger kilometers and the amount of energy consumed.
Solar Team Eindhoven achieved the higher score. This was mainly because the team drove large parts of the race with four occupants. The competitors did it with two occupants. Due to the strong wind, among other things, the Eindhoven team was not able to drive with four people as often as planned. New to this edition of the World Solar Challenge was that the Cruiser cars were only allowed to charge twice at a charging station. The longest stage of 1200 kilometers had to be covered on a single battery charge.
The final result in the Cruiser class will be announced on Sunday afternoon. In the total score, the jury takes into account comfort and degree of innovation, among other things. Solar Team Eindhoven has won the world title in the Cruiser class of the World Solar Challenge three times before.