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Aussie Students Set EV World Record After Driving 1,000 km on a Single Charge

Many people consider that the longer the range an EV has, the better it will compete with ICE vehicles on the market. Lucid pushed this to 520 miles (around 840 km), and it was the longest-driving EV on a charge for a while. Nevertheless, Lucid was bested by students at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), who demonstrated a solar-powered car capable of driving 1,000 km (621 mi) on a single charge.
Aussie students set an EV world record after driving 1,000 km on a single charge 11 photos
Photo: UNSW Sydney / Richard Freeman
Aussie students set an EV world record after driving 1,000 km on a single chargeAussie students set an EV world record after driving 1,000 km on a single chargeAussie students set an EV world record after driving 1,000 km on a single chargeAussie students set an EV world record after driving 1,000 km on a single charge
Although not everybody agrees, people expect electric vehicles to go on a charge at least as far as an ICE car does. When Lucid got its 520-miles EPA rating, Elon Musk said Tesla could’ve done it long ago, but he doesn’t consider this a plus. On the contrary, it would add unnecessary weight to the car, making it less efficient. Of course, Musk assumed that a longer range means a bigger battery, which doesn’t always need to be the case. This speaks a lot about his mindset.

It’s best when the longer range comes from better efficiency, which can be achieved by minimizing the losses in the drive system and improving the aerodynamics to create less drag. This is not always possible because a production vehicle needs to present sometimes contradicting characteristics. Because the passengers prefer a comfortable position while traveling, and the driver wants better visibility all around, the car’s shape can’t be aerodynamically perfect.

On an experimental vehicle, you can apply all sorts of optimizations just to push the limits of what’s possible and what’s not. A team of students at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, have designed and built a car that’s so efficient it set a new world record. The Sunswift 7 managed to travel 1,000 km on a single charge in under 12 hours. That equates to an average speed of 85 kph (53 mph). The official Guinness record for the ‘Fastest EV over 1000 km on a single charge’ will be issued once all the timing information and telemetry data have been analyzed and confirmed by a team of experts.

Sunswift 7, the seventh iteration of the ultra-efficient EV, completed 240 laps of the track in 11 hours and 53.32 minutes. The team started working on the record-setting prototype two years ago, although UNSW produced the first iteration of Sunswift in 1996. The Sunswift 7 weighs only 500 kg (1,100 lb) and boasts impressive aerodynamics and incredibly low rolling resistance. It also features solar panels to add a small charge back to the battery while driving.

The record attempt did not go without drama, with a battery management issue and a tire puncture causing the car to a complete halt. The rules of the event stated that the vehicle could not be stationary for more than 15 minutes, and the team solved the problems – the BMS issue took a nerve-racking 14 minutes and 52 seconds to fix.

“During this record, the energy consumption was just 3.8 kWh/100 km, whereas even the most efficient EVs on the road today only achieve a rating of 15 kWh/100 km and the average is around 20 kWh/100 km,” Team Principal, Professor of Practice Richard Hopkins said.

The Sunswift 7 isn’t a production car of the future, and it was not built by reputable engineers for a successful carmaker. There were compromises on comfort, and, of course, the cost is prohibitive. Nevertheless, the project shows that it’s possible to make cars more efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.
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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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