Belgian students win Australian solar race with PV-powered car

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The Innoptus Solar Team has won the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, a 3,000 km solar car race in Australia. The team's narrow-body vehicle recorded an average speed of 88.2 km/h and was an entry in the “Challenger Class.”

The Innoptus Solar Team, a nonprofit project led by students from the University of Leuven, crossed the finish line in Adelaide, South Australia, with a time of 34 hours, four minutes, and 41 seconds. This is 48 minutes faster than the team's 2019 winning time, according to the race organizers.

The Belgian entry led the pack almost the entire way from Darwin and finished ahead of Team Twente from the Netherlands. The Dutch team recorded a time of 34 hours, 24 minutes, 58 seconds, with an average speed of 87.4 km/h. In third place was another Dutch student-led team, the Brunel Solar Team, with an average speed of 82.7 km/h.

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The University of Michigan Solar Team came in at fourth place with an average speed of 79.3 km/h, followed by Japan's Tokai University Solar Car Team which recorded a speed average of 74.6 km/h. The University of Leuven's Top Dutch Solar Racing team was awarded sixth place with an average speed of 72.9 km/h.

The Belgian team also won the race last year under the Agoria banner.

Image: University of Michigan Solar Team

University of Michigan Solar Team

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