Zurich students race in Australia in self-built solar car
The Swiss team, called alpha-Centauri, consists of 40 students from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich.
ETH Zurich /acentauri
Zurich students set off on the World Solar Challenge in Darwin, northern Australia, on Sunday. Driving a solar car they built themselves, they are taking part in a 3,000-kilometer race across the Australian outback.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-ATS
Español
es
Estudiantes de Zúrich viajan por Australia en un coche solar construido por ellos mismos
“It’s a huge distance and you have to cover it in extreme conditions,” team member Suno Diekmann told Keystone-ATS news agency ahead of the race. It’s extremely hot, with temperatures reaching 50 degrees in the driver’s seat. The roads are very rough and the strong crosswinds can be dangerous, adds the student.
The Swiss team, called alpha-Centauri, consists of 40 students from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich, most of them aged between 21 and 23. A total of 25 of them are in Australia to take part in the race.
The Zurich students plan to complete the race, from Darwin to Adelaide, in five days. To withstand the extreme conditions, they change drivers every three hours during the race.
Safety tests
The students began developing their electric car, christened “Aletsch”, about a year ago. The result: a 188-kilogram vehicle, powered entirely by solar energy, which reaches top speeds of 120 km/h.
To ensure the safety of the participants, the vehicles had to pass several safety tests before the race. “You have to pass every test as a team, otherwise you’re not admitted to the race,” explained
“Technically, we could be on the podium,” the Zurich student said with conviction, “but it would be more realistic to aim for the top 10”. After all, this is the first time the Zurich students have taken part in the Challenge, while other teams have been taking part for years. And winning the race isn’t the only objective: “It’s also about inspiration”.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Swisscom records over 200 million cyberattacks per month
This content was published on
Swiss state-owned telecommunications provider Swisscom has to defend against 200 million cyberattacks on its own infrastructure every month.
This content was published on
International Women's Rights Day saw some 4,800 demonstrators march in the Swiss cities of Lausanne and Geneva on Saturday.
Diversity and equality ‘under threat’: ex-Swiss minister
This content was published on
Dismantling diversity programmes is a backwards step for equality, warns former Swiss government minister Simonetta Sommaruga.
Swiss regulator fines US bank Citi over fat-finger crash
This content was published on
Citigroup fined CHF500,000 by Swiss stock exchange regulator after a fat-finger trade caused a 2022 flash crash in European stocks.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Damaged solar car expected to race
This content was published on
Switzerland’s entry in the 3,000km race, the world’s toughest test for solar cars, incurred serious damage to the front wheel, engine and steering system in transit, but the team has done its best to fix it. The World Solar Challenge starts on Sunday, and the Swisspirit team was on Friday given another 24 hours until…
How sustainable fuels created from thin air could solve the energy crisis
This content was published on
Swiss scientists have built a mini solar refinery that produces synthetic fuel from just sunlight and air. The technology is now being scaled up.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.