Perth to Sydney for $45 – and a Guinness World Record attempt
A team of UNSW Sydney students will leave Perth this Saturday with a solar electric car they will drive more than 4000km back to Sydney, for around the cost of a McDonald's family meal. The young crew are attempting to set a new Guinness World Record for the lowest energy consumption driving trans-Australia – electric car.
"Traditional cars are highly inefficient," explains Chelsea Liang, 18, Operations Lead for the Sunswift solar car team, a student-led initiative at UNSW.
"When cruising, our car Violet uses about the same amount of energy as a four-slice toaster."
Violet is the sixth solar car to be designed and built entirely by students at UNSW. The students are between 18 and 21 years old and study a range of disciplines, mainly engineering but also commerce and science.
To set the new world record, the team must drive the car from coast to coast, Perth to Sydney, ensuring they keep its energy consumption to under 5.5kw per hour. The cost to run the car will be about $45 for the entire journey.
"We are aiming to use about eight times less energy per kilometre than a Tesla," Liang said.
The students hope that by taking on this challenge they will inspire all Australians to
