When you name a custom built vehicle Eleanor, it better be good. It better be
really good. But in fairness, the machine concocted by
MIT's Solar Electric Vehicle Team is actually one of the more stellar creations we've seen on wheels. The newest iteration is a touch taller than prior versions and should be more comfortable to operate. Additionally, designers managed to increase the frontal area by 30 percent, all while keeping the drag area exactly the same. The juice comes from six square meters of monocrystalline silicon
solar cells, and reportedly, the car can run all day long (providing the sun shines brightly the entire time) at a steady speed of 55 miles per hour. Eleanor will be competing later this year in the World Solar Challenge in Australia, and in preparation, the team is hoping to drive it across America this summer. So yeah, if you've ever wanted a summer to try hitchhiking, this would be it.
[Via
Wired]
posted March 1st 2009 12:23AM
I bodly proclim this to be the gretest solar car evre.
I'd really like to know some specific details on this car, but I have a feeling we'll hear nothing ever again from engadget, because for some reason they think we care more about every last unattractive cell phone that comes out, or the latest thing Sony is bumbling, or what pasty CEO comments on the state of drm blah blah blah I got bored with my own analogy
Won't the solar car from the dutch Technical university Delft (nuna 3 or something) beat them, like every other year?
Of course they will. Just shows we have better engineers :p
Yes, but theirs isn't named Eleanor.
Actually, more like every year :). We have won it 4 times and the US has only won one measily time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Solar_Challenge
This year we will beat you again to :P
TU Delft is currently designing and building Nuna 5 for the 2009 World Solar Challenge. It certainly helps to have the European Space Agency provide you with solar cells that aren't available for civilian use in the U.S.
Bodly? or Boldy?
couldn't imagine driving around in that though
They've got nothing on the U of M team:
http://www.engin.umich.edu/solarcar/
I was going to mention this. MIT can call their car whatever they want. It's still going to be stomped to death by the U of M solar car.
I bet they named it after the Shelby Mustang GT500 from Gone in Sixty Seconds.
It is a nice idea, but if you look at this thing it actually has about 25-35% of the top not covered with solar panels. The other thing is the efficiency of solar panels are slowly growing every year. The same is true about battery technology. It has a battery with a range of 215 miles (Boston to new York as the article states) and weighs 70kg. Now if this system can generate 1200w and maintain 55MPH speed, then figure say in 5 years you have a solar panel that is 25% more efficient and batteries that are 40% you are looking at enough power to make it a 2 seater that is a bit safer to drive and a range of 300 miles. Now figure the battery could run about 4 hours, then it would take 4 hours to charge in sunlight (as it does not drain the battery to run during good sunlight). On a good sunny day you might be able to drive a good 12 hours. Even on a cloudy day you should be able to charge enough while at work 8 hours to make the 25 mile drive to work and home. Even if weather is poor you should be able to run for several days and recharge when the weather clears (or plug it in). The big thing is you can actually do long range road trips during the summer whaen the weather is good. A range of 800-1200 miles is actually quite feasable. The biggest thing though is this car is sooooooo efficient that if they just made it a plug in electric they are taking 1200w/h to run this thing at 55mph. That would be about .3 cents a mile and that is based on their current prototype (1200w solar panel to run at 55mph and current costs of about 12 cents a kw/h). My car gets 30mpg and with gas prices at say $2 a gallon you are looking at 7 cents a mile. This car is about 24 times more efficient then my car. Even considering it is like 1/4 the weight of my car, this thing is efficient. So if done right you would think you could make a normal sized car electric and be 6x more efficient to convert from a 1 seater to a 5 seater with crumple zones and extras.
You may not like Eleanor, but gee, I think she's swell.
I was part of a high school team that did this back in 1990. We built our car for under 25k and competed with the big boys from MIT, Honda, etc. We finished the race .. not first place but better than a lot of the cars. If high school kids can do this over 15 years ago, why is it still so hard for major corporations to make this tech work? Because you can charge for oil and sunlight is free, that's why. Until we run out of oil, solar cars will be fun experiments for college kids to play with - nothing more.
1911 Studebaker Electric Coupe had a top speed of 21 mph. and a range of 70 miles. 1841 electric automobiles were built by Studebaker from 1902 until the end of production in 1912. The new selling price was $1850
100 years later and we still can't manage something better than the "future cars" that do 65mph and get 40 mile range? Call me a conspiracy theorist if you like but I just don't see it. Someone is holding back advancement of this tech so they can get rich and stay rich.
Just be glad it isn't called Enterprise.
Why would you increase the frontal area? That plays a major part of the drag coef. even though they say its the same. Its because of this that these cars are horrible to drive. Pretty much lying down on your back and looking down your nose. With a computer fan for AC. Panel and more importantly battery tech have to come along way for these to be mainstream.
We looked over our schools solar car and were frankly quite horrified at the mechanical systems put into it. We found it hard to believe they let these on public streets, with traffic.
Oh, and also don't cross into oncoming traffic.
BAJA SAE FTW!!!
The frontal area was increased because the rules changed and the driver now has to be able to sit upright. I saw this car under construction a couple of months ago it looked really good but we will see how they do.
Why is this on engadget?
I understand why it's on MIT's website, but plenty of universities have solar car teams. There are several solar car races all over the world every year. For example, the American Solar Challenge hosts one in north America every year. http://www.americansolarchallenge.org/
If there is something unusually extraordinary about this particular car, make it more explicit in the description.
sure, that thing does look almost as ugly as my life, but dont we all get that warm and fuzy feeling of future being upon us, when we think of this vehicle moving with no fuel input by the user? (lets just ignore oil, cloudy days and etc for the sake of a cozy little utopia)
The idea of a Mad Max future speckled with solar vehicles named Eleanor, which keep their speeds at 55 mph to preserve fully-day vehicle operation just doesn't seem as ominous, awesome and terrifying. What next? The bandits will be running around with portable pain guns rather than cross-bows? This must stop now.