The day before yesterday, Solar Team Eindhoven (STE) was an important test for Stella, because in two days the car drove close to nine hundred kilometers. She passed the test brilliantly. “Energy-wise, when compared to the Netherlands, Stella obviously does a lot better on the Australian roads”, says satisfied team member André Snoeck.

All World Solar Challenge competitors have a sixty-kilometer stretch of road at their disposal to test their cars over and over again, without interference of other traffic. STE has not needed to make any major changes to their car since arriving down under, Snoeck explains via Skype, from Darwin. “Critical hardware errors were solved through exhaustive testing in the Netherlands already. We did optimize certain things such as the aerodynamics. During test drives we’d notice wind coming in still, so we’ve fixed that, too.”

The software and driving strategy are currently most important in Australia. Snoeck: “We could race now, but there is still some room for improvement. There are minor interferences. Over the past week, our Wi-Fi connection between Stella and our strategy car went dead several times, for example.”

From the other car, the strategy team monitors the various readings of the solar car: the battery energy and engine temperatures, for example. Based on those numbers and variables like the expected weather conditions, the crew decides on a driving strategy. “If you know there won’t be much sunshine, it may not be wise to travel with four passengers. There will probably be parts of the track where Stella has only three passengers.”

In the new Cruiser Category in the World Solar Challenge cars are judged on more than just their speed, and for Snoeck that’s exactly what makes it so interesting and unpredictable. Ten teams are racing in this category, and Snoeck considers the team from Bochum, Germany, as the one to beat. “We’re really jealous of some of their solutions. One of their team members has spent an entire year thinking about the best way to close the car doors. Now they have a beautiful solution that works really well. On the other hand, we’re very proud of our electrical system. I really think our electrical engineering skills give us an edge.”

Snoeck is still reluctant to think about the odds of winning the challenge. “Whatever happens, we have an amazing car. If we manage to finish the World Solar Challenge with a family car for four, we will have made a serious statement. And of course we hope we’ll have won, too”.

For more photos of Solar Team Eindhoven in Australia check Flickr or Facebook. 

For more videos on Solar Team Eindhoven check YouTube.