Solar Motions, Silicon Valley's premiere solar car team, is set to show off its futuristic concept vehicle on March 18th, at Applied Engineering in San Jose. Solar Motions is seeking sponsorship in exchange for naming rights to their vehicle.Solar Motions is America's last chance to win the Australian World Solar Car Challenge, and they are seeking necessary sponsorship in the next month in exchange for naming rights to their vehicle.The World Solar Challenge is the Super Bowl of solar car racing. The triennial event draws up to 50 teams from around the world to race their innovative solar vehicles across the entire continent of Australia in just under five days, at an average speed of over 50 miles per hour. This year's event will be held on October 17, starting from the coast city of Darwin in the north and ending 2000 miles to the south in Adelaide.
* MEDIA DISPLAY *
| When | |
Thursday, March 18, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon |
| Where | |
Applied Engineering 970 Lonus Street (x Lincoln Ave) San Jose, CA 95126 |
| Guest | |
Frank Fiscalini, San Jose Vice-Mayor |
Top winners in the past have been largely Japanese and European teams. Martin Koebler, president of Solar Motions, has a vision to change that. "American automotive companies have been reluctant to participate in the World Solar Challenge in the past ten years. In the meantime, a field dominated by Japanese car manufacturers has been carrying the technology forward and are better positioned to benefit from the experience in future car developments," said Koebler. "We want to bring home a trophy from Australia to show that America can still compete in this arena."Mr. Koebler and his team believe that this design will eclipse the world speed record of 99 mph set by Spirit of Biel, the solar car designed by the University of Biel in Switzerland. "In favorable conditions, we expect this car to be capable of speeds in excess of 105 mph," said Koebler.
* EXPERIENCE AND INNOVATION *
"We have more solar car racing experience than any other North American team," said Ivan Huang, a Solar Motions mechanical engineer with a graduate engineering degree from Stanford University. "The engineers on our team have worked on major solar car races in Japan, Australia, and the United States since the early 1990s."Solar Motions has also recruited industry partners in motor development, solar cell encapsulation, aerodynamic analysis, and rechargeable battery technologies."We have worked hard to optimize every aspect of the car possible. We have specialists in each area who are professionals in their respective fields," said Alex Ko, a Solar Motions engineer with a graduate engineering degree from UC Berkeley. "By combining the talents of each engineer we are developing a state-of-the-art solar car that will lead to highly efficient automobiles for the next millenium, that not only cost significantly less to operate but are much more friendly towards the environment."
* SEEKING SPONSORSHIP *
In spite of Solar Motions' engineering promise, their fundraising feats have not kept equal pace."Our biggest challenge now is to find additional sponsorship to ensure a competitive entry in this fall's race," said Huang. "If we don't get any additional funding in the next three months, we may not have sufficient resources to ensure a competitive race car.""We are holding our open house at Applied Engineering to get the word out and show off our prototype car to potential corporate sponsors," said Koebler. "The primary sponsor will gain the rights to name our vehicle. They will also share in the prestige of the World Solar Challenge race when we win in the fall."The cost of materials and development of a world-class solar vehicle project at the level of the World Solar Challenge runs around $1,000,000 and up. In 1996, Honda's "Dream" took first place with an estimated total project budget of between $16,000,000 and $50,000,000.
* UPSTART SUCCESS AT SAND HILL *
The Solar Motions press conference will also feature their upstart success at the Sand Hill Challenge last fall. The Sand Hill Challenge is an annual "soap-box derby" held on Palo Alto's venture capitalist alley, Sand Hill Road, that typically draws in excess of 40,000 viewers and raises over $100,000 for local charities.Solar Motions took an astonishing second-place trophy home in 1998's Sand Hill Challenge, which they entered on a shoe-string budget of under $5000 and with a development time of less than 30 days. Other entrants featured teams including engineering firms such as IDEO and Lockheed Martin, who spent a year or more preparing for this year's event."We applied our understanding of energy losses from solar vehicle racing, and put it in a soapbox vehicle," said Koebler. "Our vehicle used less energy and had less operating losses than 32 other contestants, some of which were built by major engineering players in our area on very serious budgets -- up to a hundred times greater in some cases."
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