NWU Solar Car - Sirius X25

NWU solar car now to brave world champions!

Nearly a year after the North-West University’s solar car became the first African team to cross the finishing line in the World Solar Challenge in Australia, the team will be defending their title as the best in Africa in the local Sasol Solar Challenge – but this time against even stronger international competition.

NWU in tough battle against UKZN

The North-West University's solar car is in a neck-to-neck battle against the University of KwaZulu-Natal. These teams are competing to be the first South African team to reach the finish line of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.

They currently lie 12th in their class of 30 participants, they are ahead of UKZN, and should reach the finish line tomorrow.

Watch this video for more of day four and follow the team on social media.

22/10/2015

Students geared and ready for solar car challenge 2015

After months of planning and building, the big moment has arrived for a group of engineering students at the North-West University when they will participate in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia. The NWU team is one of only two teams in South Africa and Africa that will be competing in this so-called Dakar of solar rallies. Stay up to date with the progress of the NWU-team by following them on social media.

Journey of the NWU Solar Car: Sirius X25 during the 2014 Sasol Solar Challenge

The NWU Solar Car started the last leg of the Sasol Solar Challenge with a 40km lead over the UKZN Solar Car. The team from UKZN put up a nail-biting fight to the finish however, and finished the race with 60km more on the clock than the NWU. We are thus fourth in the race, and the second South African Team with more than 700km between us and the next team from UJ.

We doubled the distance we completed during the 2012 Sasol Solar Callenge and was also awarded the following prizes:

- Furthest distance traveled by a South African team per day

- Team Communication Award for professional social media engagement.

See the video from the final stage or view the final leaderboard.

04/10/2014

As promised, we have brought you all the action of our disaster management situation with our battery pack. We are thrilled to report that we had an excellent day, even though we lost two of our battery packs. We are now still third overall and first of the South African teams. We are 28.8 kilometers ahead of the UKZN Solar car team. Tomorrow will be a nail-biting finish!

View the video!

03/10/2014

A faulty battery pack made for a very challenging day (emergency repair procedures had to be implemented). The team, who handled the situation beautifully, is still motivated and is sure that we will make a great comeback.

View the video!

02/10/2014

Today we interviewed eco pioneer Riaan Garforth-Venter, better known as the "Nutsman". He shared his views on the Sasol Solar Challenge. View the video. After a very challenging cloudy day, we are proud to report that we are still first of the South African Teams, and third overall.

01/10/2014

After day 4, the NWU increased their lead on the South African leaderboard yet again by adding an additional 315 km between Gariep and Graaff Reinet. We are now only 30 kilometres behind Anadolu, an international team from Turkey. WIth bad weather and icy conditions we have however depleted our battery power, will be facing a very challenging stage 5.

We have also now, in 4 days drove further than we did in 11 days during the 2012 Solar Challenge. This is the longest distance ever traveled by a South African team in a solar race.

Also tune in to RSG daily at 17h30 for a insert from Corneels Schabort.

Please watch our video for all the action of the third leg of the race.

30/09/2014

After day 3, the NWU increased their lead on the South African leaderboard by adding an additional 416 km between Bloemfontein and Colesberg. This is the longest distance ever traveled by a South African team in a solar race. The NWU is now less than 100 km away of surpassing the total distance traveled over 11 days by the team in 2012.

Watch the latest video!

29/09/2014

The NWU is still in the lead on the South African leader board, and third overall. An additional 219.7 km were added on the route between Kroonstad and Bloemfontein, bringing the total distance to 608.8 km.

Strong winds and cloudy skies made racing even more difficult than the previous day. The team managed to complete only 1 loop between Winburg and Theunissen. Today we will be travelling from Bloemfontein to Colesberg via Edenburg.

Please watch our video on video for all the action of the second leg of the race.

28/09/2014

We are extremely proud to report that we are currently the first South African Team, and third overall. The team clocked a total distance of 389.1 km. Breaking our previous record of the furthest distance to be completed on a single day by a South African team. The day started with good weather, which made a turn for the worst in the afternoon. We completed three loops in Sasolburg, and then decided to head to Kroonstad with the car on the trailer due to strong winds. Tomorrow we will be travelling from Kroonstad to Bloemfontein via Windburg. Please watch our video on for all the action of the first leg of the race. In the video, Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor speaks out about her high regard for the NWU Solar Car.

27/09/2014

The NWU Solar Car passed the initial technical evaluation. We are proud to announce that we got the second fastest lap time around Zwartkops Race Track. Tomorrow we will start as one of the favourites (together with Maragon Solar Car - previously known as the Batmobile of the NWU) and ahead of the current World Champions from the Netherland, Nuon Solarcar. Please watch our video on for behind the scenes info of the scrutineering phase.

26/09/2014