Hello, Aevum: 2022 U-M Solar Car
"UMich Solar Car Team unveils newest model, plans to race in 3,000-mile cross-country event next month" [Michigan Daily link]
Aevum [U-M Solar Car link]
"The Michigan Sun Run is a nearly 3,000 mile-long endurance run across the United States of America. Starting on the East Coast, traversing 12 states and ending in Los Angeles, this is solar racing’s newest challenge.... Departing from the East Coast, the team will drive Aevum across the country to Los Angeles. Along the way, Aevum will stop at the race’s checkpoint locations in Kansas City and Albuquerque."
Let's Go Blue!
Sunnyside up!
My own "cool story, bro" tangent to this: I was part of the solar car team for a while. I didn't end up contributing much since classes got too busy, but... I did suggest the names that were used for two consecutive UM cars. One of the "real" solar car members even reminded me about it when I ran into them a few years later.
Congratulations on your contribution to Michigan's mission.
I'm no engineer, but I feel like someone smarter than me could make a car with a solar powered battery that could start it up, and then converts to a turbine powered fuel system once it is moving, which could run forever. 🤔
I'm pretty sure the laws of thermodynamics beg to differ with you, but if you can find a way to make it happen you'll be crazy rich and famous and the rest of us engineers will have egg on our faces.
I lived almost exclusively with engineers while in undergraduate school and let me just put this out here, it doesn't take much to spot one with egg on their face. It might, in fact, be more challenging to find one without egg on their face (at least during those formative years)...
You might mean socially but if "egg on their face" refers to mistakes in their engineering, isn't that how it works building anything from scratch, as an engineer or a writer, making mistakes and trying again?
I am neither a chef, poultryman nor an engineer, so I fear I am unable to comment on this platform. I am, however, quite astute at making errors. I can say with absolute certainty that the only way to live is to make a near-infinite number or errors, and rarely, if at all, reduce them in any meaningful manner. With age comes great wisdom from erroneous behaviour, but no measurable change in rate of error-making.
I may or may not be reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy of five books again (for what must be the 3rd or 5th time in my life)...
You are mistaken, its your 4th time through.
And then about the time you get all that wisdom from trial and error... the senior moments start coming more frequently
I second that.
Sorry . . . what were we talking about?
Good to see them back at it. I am curious about why it seems they’ve opted out of the American Solar Challenge race, though. It looks like ASC is still happening this year, and Michigan has historically dominated it, but we’re not a participant. Instead it seems like they’re not racing at all, but doing their own thing (albeit on a much longer course).
Possible explanation?
He [project manager Joseph Harrington] added that the project was delayed due to the team having to design remotely and due to part shortages.
“This is the first and only car we’ve designed entirely remotely,” the team’s engineering director and a rising junior in electrical engineering Terry Li said in a release. “That’s created some issues with systems integration, but we tackled those successfully so far and things are looking up.”
I posted the pic b/c if you're like me, that's what I'm most interested in when this topic comes up. Looking sharp as ever.
Go Blue.
Does anyone know how fast it goes? How far can it go before stopping in the sun?
Taking a different tack than evenyoubrutus (above), I wonder if solar panels can be used to extend the range of "today's" electric cars. 200 miles on a charge isn't far when driving on vacation and waiting for a hour (or more) for a recharge isn't exactly family fun.
Tesla doesnt have that problem. im at 400 per charge (though the way i drive, more like 250-275). charging is uber fast... i drove up to jersey, plugged in, went to piss and grab a sandwich. came back in 10 and it went from 25% to 75%.
The other new electric cars, i hear, are similar in their range - though without the supercharger network and without boots on the ground (where are you rivian???)
Henry Ford had a similar problem - the road were fit for horse & buggy and there were no gas stations!
So, build a faster horse!
If I asked my customers what they want, they would say: "faster horses"
Love that quote for Ford (I'm in technical sales)
This is a great point. My rang anxiety nearly disappeared when I learned that the really long times are for a full charge - and that gettting your car "mostly" charged is actually a lot quicker, and makes long roadtrips much more feasible.
But I still think it would be neat to have the ability to slowly add charge as you drive - either through solar panels, or the idea of putting wireless chargers into the interstates - not sure if that latter mode is feasible but it's an exciting idea that I know somebody is working on.
Did a quick Google search. Solar panels generate around 150 Watts/sq meter. A Tesla consumes around 220 Watt-hours per mile. So 1.5 sq meters of solar panels would add about 1 mile of range in an hour. So 1.5 sq meters of solar panels would extend a 400 mile Tesla battery range to something like 406 during daylight hours.
These Interstate chargers would be the new gas stations, as long as there are designed by “Sparty engineers”, then they would be Interstaee chargers!
pretty cool to see how these technologies evolve....
Longtime lurker, first-time poster.
I had the good fortune of running a video series for AOL back in the 2010s that explored innovations in transportation technology. Even though our cast and crew were LA-based, had to bring them out to A² to celebrate some of the work being done at our beloved alma mater. One of our episodes featured the Michigan solar car team and we were just blown away by the brilliant students involved. (I can't believe this was over a decade ago!) If you're interested, I've embedded the video below. GO BLUE!
Been a while since we had news about our world-renown Solar Car Team. I loved reading about their competition down under back, what, 4 years ago on this board and hope that someone on the team reads this blog and would be willing to share progress reports. Go Blue, shoot for the stars, or the Sun in this case.
Our Sun is a star. I would call it THE star, but may get sued for trademark infringement
No worries, the Sun is maize.
I thought this was cool, from the Daily link:
“From numerous canceled races, dozens of leadership transitions, a fully-remote design cycle and global supply chain disruptions, this car embodies resilience,” Li said. “The name ‘Aevum’ originates from a Latin word that describes the mean between time and eternity, and this car is a testament of our ability to endure.”
I figured that it stood for "EV-UM" and the A stood for some weird way to say solar. I was very wrong. Neat.