Sun-pillaging solar car race heats up for fiery finish

A solar car from the University of Calgary ran out of sunlight Saturday as it neared the end of the third stage of the North American Solar Challenge race.

Overcast skies played havoc on many of the weather-dependent cars in the competition, forcing them to be loaded into trailers and hauled the rest of the leg as they raced from North Dakota to Winnipeg.

The U of C car, Schulich 1, almost finished the stage under its own power but had to be taken by trailer the last 30 kilometres, team spokesman Grady Semmens said.

Some Sioux Falls UPS employees will give tune ups to solar vehicles today when they drive through Falls Park for the North American Solar Challenge.

The UPS crews will cool solar panals and give other mechanical assistance to the University of Kentucky solar challenge team.

In the best British tradition, the hopefuls from Durham University have entered the race on a shoestring and are running it with even less.

“I guess you could call it a low -budget entry,” says David Sims-Williams, the team’s technical adviser. “It is a bit David and Goliath, and our team is definitely in the role of David.”

Because of the cost of transporting many of the more fragile parts, members of the team packed bits of the car in their baggage for their flight to America. “Airport security must have wondered what we were up to with all these tools and bits of solar panels in our luggage.”

Many of the teams competing have budgets well into the millions of dollars; the boys from Durham have had to pay their own air fares and built the car from scratch in their spare time at university for about £100,000. And while most of their opponents have fleets of support vehicles, including one team with an HGV packed with a bank of computers, the British entry is escorted by two hire cars with toolkits in the boot. “The other teams have been very friendly and allowed us to beg and borrow spares,” says Sims-Williams.

Project co-chair Darshni Pillay said the crew is driving the race course in reverse -- from Calgary to Dallas -- to strategize.

"We're taking notes on where there are big hills and bumps. It allows us to plan how to use the power of the vehicle," she said.

The race has been at the back of team members' minds for the past two years, since they began construction on the solar car.

They are driven also by the fact the finish line is in Calgary. "I would love to have a first-place victory," Pillay said.

Once in Dallas, the team will have about a week before the race begins.