The 24-hour race begins on Saturday, September 21, at 1 PM. It will be a relay-style race in which the passengers and driver switch every two hours. STE technical manager Bob van Ginkel is one of the co-drivers and he talks about Stella Era’s chances.

“We’re competing in the Cruiser class. This is the class for family cars, so they’re also assessed based on how suitable they are for everyday use. They look at the interior, luggage capacity, how soft the seats are and so on. Along with the number of laps we complete in 24 hours multiplied by the number of people the car can carry – up to four in our case – that determines the outcome.” Stella Era has no license plate, which will be a drawback. But on the upside, the car can autonomously drive to the sunniest spot in the parking lot. “Instead of focusing on obtaining a license plate, the team used its time to realize that feature. You can’t focus on everything,” says Van Ginkel.

Small improvements

Over the past few months, team members and former members have been working evenings to optimize Stella Era. “It’s about small things. The car is now slightly more efficient in terms of energy consumption, the software has been improved a little, and the interior and engines have also been tweaked. We’re ready now.”

It looks like the weather will be dry and sunny this weekend, which is not always the case in late September. Van Ginkel recalls the previous edition, two years ago. “It was raining so much that we drove some laps with only three people to conserve energy. The smaller cars were at an advantage then, we finished third.”

Optimism

Through this race, STE wants to prove that the future of solar cars is getting ever closer. Van Ginkel: “European students will be showing that those cars can drive even during the dark night. It’s our job to show people the possibilities. The automotive industry is definitely watching too.” The iLumen European Solar Challenge claims to be the only 24-hour race for electric cars in the world.

STE is bringing two cars to Zolder. Stella Terra will be competing in a separate class, mainly to showcase what it can do. “What’s cool is that two members of our team will drive Stella Terra on the road to Zolder. Stella Terra does have full approval from the Netherlands Vehicle Authority (RDW) and therefore a license plate. Fortunately, it will be able to handle the Belgian roads just fine (Stella Terra was designed to perform off-road, Ed.).”

Racetrack

The rest of the team will travel to Belgium with their own transportation – and a trailer containing Stella Era. Like the other teams, they will camp inside the circuit. There, they get to exchange experiences. Teams from Groningen, Twente, a dozen European countries and Great Britain are also present. The students will pitch their tents on the grass within the fast corner, the chicane, the straight sections and the slow corner. The circuit is four kilometers long.