World Solar Challenge 2023: ETH team ranks 12th: “We learned something new every hour”

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About 20 ETH students founded Team Alpha Centauri a little over a year ago. Your goal: to build a solar mobile and compete in the World Solar Challenge between October 22-29, 2023. A 3000 kilometer race from Darwin to Adelaide across the Australian desert. This is the first time an ETH team has taken on this challenge. Although you don’t want to create too many expectations as a newcomer – “You have to finish first to finish first” is the motto – students secretly have some ambition after successful tests. “It should be possible to get into the top 10,” team spokesman Suno Diekmann told us before the start. He even secretly dreams of a place on the podium.

But soon after the start in Darwin, ETH students realize that testing is not the same as racing. And last but not least, the competition benefits from the experience and routine of previous participation. “We carried out adjustments and repair work on the first night, which led to an increase in productivity of almost 40 percent,” Diekmann reported on the second day.

The weather was not very suitable at the beginning

With just over half of the 3,000 kilometers to cover, the team spokesperson praised his team on arrival in South Australia: “Our team’s performance is exciting. Our processes are getting better and better. Driver changes now take only 1:38 minutes, and our repair team works every night to further optimize the car.” Still, the ETH team is worried: in the first three days of the race, in overcast skies, cross or headwinds and generally on slightly uphill routes, they will only be able to drive in practice. “Our battery level is now down to 23 percent. There were also moments when we were afraid we would have to take longer breaks,” says Diekmann.

But on the fourth day of the race, the sun finally shines in the sky. “Today, for the first time, we managed to end the day with a positive battery level,” said Diekmann happily in the evening. “We charged 20 percent for the day.” Still, the tension in the Swiss team continues. So far, the Aletsch solar racer is “only” traveling at an average speed of 63 km/h; This is much slower than the almost 80 km/h expected. The team knows they need to travel at an average speed of 68 km/h if they want to reach the remaining 1047 kilometers to Adelaide before the end of the control period. “We will continue to optimize and move faster,” promises Diekmann.

I’m shaking to the end

And indeed: Thanks to the favorable weather gods – plenty of sun and mostly tailwind – the Swiss solar racer crossed on the final day, 20 minutes before the check deadline, despite the many construction sites and rush hour in Adelaide. It was the 12th team out of 23 teams classified and 28 teams started at the finish line. “We arrived at our destination in Adelaide on time and covered 3,000 kilometers as we finally managed to hit 80km/h over the last two days,” said a delighted and satisfied team spokesperson.

However, the average speed was “only” 61.4 km/h; They were secretly hoping for an average of 80 km/h before the start. Winners prove this is unrealistic. Just like in the last organization four years ago, a student team from Belgium will be the champion again in 2023. They are progressing on the 3,000-kilometer track at an average speed of 88.2 km/h, that is, 1.6 km/h faster than the winning team of 2019.

“Of course it would be nice to take part further,” the students admit. “But we learned something new every hour of the race,” Diekmann said. “During testing, something broke every 20 kilometers and repairs often took several hours or days. We now only had two minor problems in the race and were able to fix them in about 30 minutes.” The first breakthrough occurred shortly after the end of the race: Aletsch only managed to maintain the expected average speed of 80 km/h for a long period of time on a flat course, in full sunlight and without headwinds or crosswinds. “We need to optimize this for the next engagement,” says Diekmann. This 12th is just the beginning of Alpha Centauri’s story. “We will chase the top spot at the next Solar World Challenge in two years,” promises the team spokesperson.

Source: Blick