Solar car driven by students arrives in Bali for trial run

A solar car created by students in of the Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya arrived at GWK, Jimbaran on Thursday evening. 

The trial for this car had it drive from Jakarta to Bali, Aufar Nugraha, Chairman of the ITS Solar Car Racing Team, told Tribun Bali

The car was ready on August 17, 2015 and reportedly went straight to Bali. 

“We did it totally like a race in one day. So the course was only when the sun could provide power. Once the battery is fully charged, the car can go approximately 700 kilometers,” Nugraha told Tribun. 

He further explained that this vehicle is meant to enter the competition in the World Solar Challenge in October 2015, that totals a distance of 3000 kilometers from Darwin to Adelaide, Australia. 

The car can reach a maximum speed of 150 kph but due to not so good road conditions in Indonesia, the solar car only reached 20 to 40 kph, Nugraha added. 

The ITS Solar Car Racing Team is made up of about 20 people. 

During the trip to Bali, the team took down notes of what to improve on the car, and they also suffered some damage to the rear suspension in Surabaya, which they already took care of. 

Perhaps the highlights of their road trip was getting a ticket by police in the Paiton area of East Java. It was apparently nighttime and the solar car passed a truck on an uphill road, where passing is not allowed—but the team seemed lighthearted about it in their account to Tribun. 

Illustration: Wikimedia Commons



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