- Student
- 25/10/2015
Solar Team Eindhoven prolongs world title
Last Sunday, Solar Team Eindhoven once again won the Cruiser category of the World Solar Challenge. The TU/e students weren’t the fastest; their Japanese competitors were slightly quicker the whole week. Still, since the challenge takes into account comfort, practical use and the number of passengers as well (among other things), Eindhoven’s 97.77-percent result was good for a prolongation of the world title.
The challenge was exciting: Solar Team Eindhoven (STE) and the Japanese Kogaguin were very close ever since the very first heat. During the week, in which the teams drove a total over more than 3,000 kilometers, STE was always slightly behind Japan, but the Eindhoven car always carried at least one extra passenger.
After finishing in Adelaide on Friday, Cruiser category competitors had to wait a little less than two days until the final verdict was announced, as the jury still had to score several other aspects including practical use, comfort and the level of innovation of the participating cars. The team scored 84.5 percent for practicality and an overall score of 97.77. The Japanese team came in second with 93.92 percent, and the German team from Bochum won third place (83.39 percent).
Tom Selten, wearing a Brabant flag as a cape, praised “this year’s amazing Cruiser category”. He reminded us it’s a super exciting category, too, “because the scoring system was different this year, and not necessarily favorable for teams that like to build solar family cars like us”. Selten: “We just really wanted to win this race. We were faced with a tough choice: what concept will we go for? What type of car do we build?”
The team manager is glad STE opted for a family car again. “We believe these cars are the future. And I think we did an amazing job this year.”
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