In 1986 , at a prison term when gas was still less than $ 1 a congius ( about 26.3 cents per liter ) , General Motors CEO Roger Smith compress Paul MacCready and his company AeroVironment , Inc. to build asolar - powered carin less than one twelvemonth ’s prison term . What was the function ? Smith wanted GM to contend in the maiden World Solar Challenge , a sun - powered 1,864 - mile ( 3,000 - kilometer ) trek across the continent of Australia .
In 1986,solar powerwas nothing fresh . In the wake of the vitality crisis of the seventies , solar energy enquiry was a extremely specialised field and a growing industry . For MacCready though , ramp up land fomite was something new . An already build innovator of alternative energy , in particular solar major power , MacCready ’s team was renowned for its use of exotic materials in build lightweight , experimentalaircraft . But building a road - rifle fomite able to hold up the ruthless heat and conditions of Australia ’s outback proved a novel challenge .
Ironically , the tale of the Sunraycer initially had a happy ending , but in retrospect , it may be a tragic example of one society ’s lack of foresightfulness and mistaking of planetary drift and demand . This article documents the story of the Sunraycer , its triumph and what the world learned from it in the days following its greatest daylight .
Up next , we ’ll check about the World Solar Challenge and the origination of the construct .
The World Solar Challenge
The idea to go in the World Solar Challenge earlier came from GM ’s Australian division . Once Roger Smith heard about the concept he promptly contacted AeroVironment to estimate whether it was feasible to establish a fomite that would be competitive in less than a year . After conducting an initial study , Paul MacCready was sure-footed his squad could pull it off .
MacCready along with Hughes Electronics executed the design of the Sunraycer and took it for a test spin in Arizona in early October , 1987 . It performed praiseworthily , complete four laps of a 5 - mile ( 8 kilometer ) course with a best medium pep pill of 35.227 mph ( 56.692 kilometers per hour ) , setting a fresh land speed record for a solar - powered vehicle .
The World Solar Challenge start at Darwin and cease in Adelaide , Australia , and encompasses public roadway throughout . As a result , drivers in the competition must adhere to the same ruler as every other driver on the route . The race runs from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. at which time the drivers and squad camp until the race begins the next day . From 1987 until 1999 , the slipstream convened once every three geezerhood . Since 2001 , the airstream has been held every two years .
During that inaugural subspecies in Australia , the GM team convey the pole position after it register the fastest clip in modification . At the end of the 1,864 - mile ( 3,000 - kilometer ) slipstream , and taking into explanation that a slipstream daylight is only 9 hours long , GM ’s Sunraycer was more than two sidereal day in front of its next competitor ; an entry called the Sunchaser , work up byFord Motor Company . average out 41.5 mph ( 66.8 kilometers per minute ) , the Sunraycer covered the almost 2,000 - mile ( 3,218.7 - km ) journey in 44 hours and 54 minutes . The Ford Sunchaser stop the backwash in 67 hours and 32 minutes . The Sunraycer ’s dependability play a major role in its triumph .
While it looks very simple on the outside , the engineering behind its design is nothing short of purposeful . Let ’s move on to the inner works of the Sunraycer in the next subdivision .
Sunraycer Design: The Rolling Cockroach
It goes without saying – the Sunraycer is a rather peculiar looking fomite . resemble a cross between a squashed bullet train and a cockroach , the Sunraycer is tenacious and sleek . In guild for the railcar to be able to run on solar energy , more than 7,000solar cellsare installed on the skin of the vehicle covering an area of about 90 square feet ( 8.4 square meters ) . The solar cells charge a large silver - cell battery camp which is installed behind the number one wood ’s compartment . The equipment driver sit almost as if driving aFormula Oneor Indy Car and the total fomite ( minus the number one wood ) count less than 400 lbf. ( 181.4 kilograms ) .
Along with its large battery pack , the Sunraycer carry a modest silver - Zn battery used primarily for accelerate past slow traffic and up hills . Both batteries power a lightweight direct - drive electrical motor that power the rear wheels . At 8.1 pounds ( 3.7 kilogram ) , the electric motor produces just two horsepower .
The Sunraycer ’s slung - back excogitation eliminate as much as retarding force as applied scientist could calculate . At a paltry .125 drag coefficient ( Cd ) , the Sunraycer was more sleek than a McLaren F1 at .32 Cd . In fact , most production cars rarely douse below .30 Cd . The GM ( Impact ) EV-1 , which we ’ll learn about in the next section , had a very low drag coefficient , too .
The solar cadre on the Sunraycer are similar to those found onsatellites . MacCready pulled on his aerospace engineering background to plan a comfortable cockpit for the number one wood . Because of the excessive warmth in the Australian Outback and the want of climate ascendency devices and outside respiration , the sealed cockpit had to be well - insulated . engineer solved the heat issue by apply a tenuous gold photographic film over the cockpit . The film blocked 90 percent of visible light and 98 percent of the Sun ’s infrared radiotherapy .
In the next discussion section you ’ll learn how GM give out from solar - power pioneer to the brink of bankruptcy . consider it or not , the Sunraycer played a major theatrical role . say on to incur out .
The Sunraycer and the EV-1
The Sunraycer is widely viewed as the predecessor prototype to the failed EV-1 program . In 1987 , it ’s good to say that solar - powered electric vehicles for mass transportation were considered gimmicky and not many the great unwashed hadalternate fuelon their mind . tight forward 22 class to the economic struggles of 2009 and the inevitability ofpeak oilprices and it becomes obvious the U.S. machine manufacturers could have benefited from advance the geographic expedition of alternate fuel vehicles such as the EV-1 . Nevertheless , the blame does n’t fall squarely on the articulatio humeri of GM .
The EV-1 run on the top executive of trail - acidbatteries , similar to the battery found under the cowl of yourcar , and they did n’t have much chain . GM stated the EV-1 had a range of a function of around 120 miles ( 193.1 kilometers ) which was later bumped to 160 naut mi ( 257.5 kilometers ) with Ni - metal hydride bombardment , but many driver claimed the actual range was far less , specially when driven with accoutrement such as the atmosphere conditioner , smoke or headlights on .
compound the lack of reach , recharge stations were not readily uncommitted . The EV-1 could reload in about two time of day under ideal term . But perhaps the enceinte trouble was the cost . For about $ 38,000 , driver could lease the EV-1 and have the fomite serviced through the company ’s Saturn dealerships . But herein lays the major snafu with the EV-1 program : Considering the EV-1 be GM roughly $ 80,000 per vehicle , the Detroit manufacturer bled money with each sale [ source : Bensinger ] .
GM sought - out and destruct virtually all of the EV-1s toward the remainder of the program as documented in the picture show " Who Killed the Electric Car ? " In the end , GM lost somewhere in the neighborhood of $ 2 billion on the EV-1 program . Who would have thought one vehicle program could be a companionship so much ?
While the EV-1 may have failed financially , the Sunraycer ’s legacy live on . detect out what the automotive diligence learned and what ’s in store for GM ’s galvanizing vehicle political platform in the next plane section .
Legacy of the GM Sunraycer
General Motors capitalized on its solar - powered achiever and spearhead efforts to premise the technology in the wake of the Sunraycer ’s triumph in 1987 . In 1990 , 32 college squad designed and speed in the first GM Sunrayce USA ; a 1,800 - international mile ( 2,896.8 - kilometer ) race from Florida to Michigan , with the top three finishing teams garner a tripper to the World Solar Challenge in Australia .
After the Sunrayce in 1990 , GM developed the Impact – the vehicle that would hit the production line as the EV-1 . The Impact was to be an electric sports car that would meet the rigorous specifications of the Zero - emissions Vehicle ( ZEV ) mandatory that stated at least 2 percent of all the vehicles sold in California by the major auto maker would pass off no expelling .
The EV-1 examine to be the next logical progression and it was GMs answer to the ZEV mandatory . It may have worked had the party fulfill the computer programme better . Current CEO Rick Wagoner called the ending of the EV-1 the biggest mistake of his tenure and regrets not refocusing the party ’s cause onhybrid engineering science .
In the year following the Sunraycer and EV-1,fuel pricesskyrocketed and U.S. consumer convert their tastes from great sport utility vehicle and trucks to smaller , gasoline - favorable sedans or compact cars . As a issue , GM is in danger of permanently shut its doors . The Chevy Volt , an extended - rangeelectric vehicleGM has been work on for several years , may be the answer to the company ’s decline in the grocery store . The Volt could have been the railroad car that saved the darling bow tie make had GM transferred its electric vehicle technology from the EV-1 when it had impulse . Instead , GM found itself years behind fuel - efficient manufacturers such as Honda and Toyota . Now , as the federal governance pumps money into the skin auto industry , the Volt may be GM ’s last - ditch endeavour to stave off the lasting foreclosure .
Today , the GM Sunraycer model in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington , D.C. , a testament to the innovative minds of the times . The Sunraycer proved solar energy could be a executable fuel option . Only time will tell if the path the Sunraycer laid over the Outback of Australia more than two decade ago will be the swan song of a majestic American troupe or the turning point of a raw generation .
For more information on GM ’s Sunraycer , solar might and other related to topics , follow the links on the next page .
