University Of Illinois Solar-Powered Car Takes To The Australian Outback
University of Illinois students are entering a solar-powered car for an 1,800 mile challenge in Australia Illini Solar Car
Engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are testing a high-tech car on the world stage.
Engineering students at the state’s flagship university have built Argo, a solar powered car.
The car is now in Australia and will compete in the annual Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in a few weeks. It’s an annual competition where solar cars travel 18-hundred miles across the Australian outback.
Rafael Ridao is one of around 40 engineering students who built the car. He says the Solar Challenge isn’t a race—just finishing is a triumph.
"If you can finish there, it just affirms then that just affirms everything about your team—skills, craftsmanship, engineering," Ridao said.
While Ridao says students have entered the car in national challenges, he and his colleagues are excited to see how the car handles extreme conditions in Australia.
The challenge begins October 8 and ends October 13.