Sunraycer charging her batteries - this is allowed

A solar car is necessarily an electric car, because it runs on electricity generated by solar heat.  The first electrical carriage was built and run in 1838 in Edinburgh, by one Robert Davidson, and a few years later an American named M.B.Farmer was running one.  In fact, the first auto to break the 100 km/h 'barrier' was an electrically-driven torpedo-shaped LaJamais Contente (The Never Content) which Belgian Camille Jenatzy pushed to a new world land speed record of 105.904 km/h (65.79 mph) on April 29, 1899.  But the internal combustion engine was starting to demonstrate a superiority that lasts until this day, as innovative technology continues to refine this noble concept.

Then, 88 years later, on October 31, 1987, the solar-charged, electric-powered General Motors Sunraycer sprinted at 113 km/h (70.2 mph) on the highway leading south from the far north Australian city of Darwin.  what it was doing Down Under is the story of this book.

It is the story of a highly diverse group of people brought together by the common urge to push outwards the envelope of known technology.  there had been solar car races before.  The first was the 1985 Tour de Sol in Switzerland, over 229 miles, then the second in 1986, over 237 miles.  But the Australian race was 1950 miles across the world's oldest continent.  While Daimler-Benz had built its Solarmobile to win the first Swiss race, the technology used would be outmoded instantly by what was planned by the General Motors group of scientists, technicians, designers, engineers and racers for the beautiful jewel called Sunraycer.

This book is the story of that Great Adventure, an operation that was planned an executed with dazzling swiftness inside an excrutiatingly-tight timetable, an incredible achievement in itself within the framework of so vast a business organization.

It is the story of a race that was planned and won by an operation that in its intensity of purpose and meticulousness of detail rivaled that of a NASA space mission.  And there were more than a few elements of aerospace in what happened across that huge continent.  That is why in this book we refer to the GM team members as 'astronauts of the sun'.  This is their story, and the story of an amazing automobile.

Sunraycer charging her batteries - this is allowed

The Sunraycer will stand always as a symbol that America in general, and General Motors in particular, is still in the forefront of innovative and creative thinking.  The country that put the world on wheels hasn't forgotten how to lead.

Sunraycer is a product of the Australian-based Chevron Publishing Group.  The country's largest automotive and motor racing book and magazine publisher, the group also produces books on other subjects.  It has set new standards of quality and excellence in Australian books, and as such, was a worthy partner for the GM team in this endeavor.

AFTER THE SUNRAYCER - GM's EV1

After GM's Sunraycer won the Australian race - it wasn't even a close race, the Sunraycer crossed the finish line 2½ days before the second place racer. This car heavily inspired the EV1 that is currently available. The Impact was debuted ant the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show. This was the first prototype for the EV1. Twelve prototypes and 23 new patents later, the first EV1 rolled of the assembly line at the Lansing Craft Centre in November of 1996. The name Impact was dropped, probably because the term doesn't sound safe. The car featured a 0.19 drag coefficient making it one of the slickest cars ever. The car can even out run the Mazda Miata, no small feat considering that electric cars are thought of as slow. In a twist of irony, the EV1 sports the 100-year-old UL mark. Underwriters Laboratories is the most widely accepted certification for electronic gear. Both the charging system and car carry the mark. Take a careful look at the EV1 on this page, it is the wave of the future.

EV1 is by no means the first electric car on the U.S. mainland, it is however one of the best conceived yet. Back at the last turn of the century, electricity powered more "horseless carriages" than gasoline. As was mentioned on the Oldsmobile page, had a fire not destroyed Ransom Olds plant that produced electric cars, we might all be driving electric vehicles today. Instead only a select few drive EV1's in some cities in Arizona and California. Back in those early years electric cars were popular because they didn't have to be hand cranked. They were also quiet and didn't smell bad. These were big benefits in those days. However history saw to it that the internal combustion engine won out and that is what more than 99.999999% of the population drive. GM has toyed with electric cars for the last few decades on and off. When the gas crisis hit the U.S. in the early seventies and the emission controls started to become a hot topic is when GM started to carefully look at electric cars. This was in addition to other form of propulsion. However it was decided that the technology was to new to be efficient enough for public consumption. So the downsizing projects were under way to make the gas powered cars lighter and more efficient. This worked well but did not solve all of the problems, so research continued on for electric vehicles. 

Because the EV1's development was not headed by any one division the car simply carries the GM badge. They are leased out of a select number of Saturn dealerships in Arizona and California only. The cars are very unique so they are easy to spot when you can find one. They look like what the Geo Storm would probably look like had the car been updated instead of discontinued. The rear of the car tapers quite a bit. The taillights look like they were plucked from a Jaguar. The front resembled the current Oldsmobile theme except more aerodynamic. The EV1 was one slick ride! The last EV1 was made in 2000. The more recent developement of hybird electric and fuel in cars probably brought the production to a halt. The cheaper cost of these alternatives, and the much longer range makes them much more attractive to buyers.

Congratulations to the team for a job well done and for advancing the cause of clean, sustainable, electric transportation.

The Website is sponsored by Solar Cola

 

ORGANISATION A-Z	CAR'S NAME	TEAM NAME
Aristotle Uni of Thessaloniki, Helios	Helios	Faculty of Engineering
Arizona Solar Racing Team - USA		Arizona Solar Racing Team
Auburn University	Sol of Auburn	Sol of Auburn
Aurora Team, Australia	Aurora	Aurora Vehicle Association
Bochum Solar Car Team		Das SolarCar der Fachhochschule
California Poly S University	SLO Burn  Sidewinder	San Luis Obispo
Clarkson Uni Solar Car Team, USA		The Solar Knights
Delft University - Holland	NUNA I & II 2003
Dell Winston School	The Hunter	Solar Car Challenge
Desert Rose, Northern Territory Uni	FUJI DESERT ROSE
Drexel SunDragon Home Page
École de technologie supérieure Quebec	Eclipse V (5)	Éclipse Vehicular Solaire
École Polytechnique de Montréal	Esteban
Eko-Auto  Poland	Eko-Auto
Electron Analytic Corporation	Dark Horse	EAC Skunkworks
George Washington University		George Washington Uni Solar Car
Georgia Institute of Technology	Solar Jackets	Solar Jackets
Heliodet, Germany	Heliodet	Heliodet, Solar Car Team
Helios - Lille, France	Hélios IV	Hautes Etudes d'Ingénieur
Honda Car Company	Honda
Illinois State University	Surya, Ratha, Mercury	Illinois State University Team
Iowa State University	Fusion	Team PrISUm
Jonasun  Japan	Orbit	Solar Car Paviion
Kansas State University	Paragon	Solar Car Racing Team
Los Altos Academy of Engineering		Los Altos Solar Car Team
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Tesseract	MIT
McGill University Monteal, Canada	iSun	Team iSun
McMaster University	Phoenix	McMaster Uni Solar Car Project
Messiah College Grantham, Penns	Genesis II	Genesis II Solar Racing Team
Michigan State University		Solar Racing Team
Michigan Technological University		Solar Car Team
Minnesota S Uni-Mankato/Winona S Uni		Minnesota Solar Car Team
North Dakota State University	The Double Deuce	Sunsetters - Solar Race Team
Northwestern University	N'Uvation	Northwestern University
Nuon Solar Team, Netherlands	Nuon 3	Het Nuon Solar Team
Osaka Sangyo University, Japan	OSU model S	Solar Car Team
Prairie View A&M University	Solaris	Sun Panthers
Principia College	RA 6	Principia College Solar Car Team
Purdue University	SPOT 2	Purdue University Solar Racing
Queen's University Canada	Radiance  Gemini	Queen's Solar Vehicle Team
Red River College	Red River Raycer	Red River College Solar Car Team
Rice University		Rice University
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology		Rose-Hulman Solar Car Team
Southern Illinois Uni Edwardsville	Cougar Cruiser	Southern Illinois University
South Bank University, UK	Mad Dog	South Bank Mad Dog Team
South Dakota School Mines & Tech	Solar Motion	South Dakota Solar Motion Team
Southern Taiwan University Tech		Southern Taiwan Solar Team
Stanford University	Solstice	Stanford Solar Car Project
Tamagawa University - Japan		Tamagawa Solar Challenge Project
Team Futura, Italy	FUTURA 2	Team Futura
Team SunLake - Japan	Phaethon model	Team SunLake TOYOBO
Texas A&M University	Columbia Sunraycer	Texas A&M Motorsports Team
The Power of One  - Toronto	Xof1	The Xof1 solar car team
Tufts University	ANNE E. B. II	Nerd Girls
University of Alberta		University of Alberta Team
University of Arizona	Drifter	Solar Racing Team
University of Calgary		UC Calgary Solar Car Team
University of California-Berkeley	CalSol	California Calsol Team
University of Kansas	Solution, CATalyst	KSU Solar Car Racing Team
University of Kentucky	Gato del Sol II	Solar Car Team
University of Massachusetts	Spirit of Mass 413	Lowell Solar Racing Team
University of Michigan	Momentum	University of Michigan
University of Minnesota	Borealis III	U of M Solar Vehicle Project
University of Missouri -  Columbia	Suntiger VI	The Mizzou Solar Car Project
University of Missouri -  Rolla	Solar Miner V	Solar Minor Car Team
University of North Dakota	Subzero 3	Team SubZero
University of Ontario Institute of Tech		UOI Solar Vehicle Team
Uni of New South Wales SCR Team	UNSW Sunswift III	New South Wales SCR Team
University of Patras, Hermes		Solar Car Team
University of Pennsylvania	Keystone	Penn Solar Racing
University of Queensland	Sunshark	Queensland Solar Team
University of South Australia	Ned  KELLY	SA Solar Car Consortium
University of Texas at Austin	Solar Steer	Solar Vehicles Team
University of Texas at El Paso		Solraycers
University of Toronto	Blue Sky	Blue Sky Solar Racing
University of Toulouse	Heliotrope	Heliotrope Solar Car Team
University of Utah		Vehicle Design Team Utah
University of Virginia		UVa Solar Car Team
University of Waterloo	Midnight Sun VIII	Midnight Sun Solar Race Team
University of Western Ontario	Sunstang	Sunstang USP Solar Car Team
USP Solar Car Team		USP Solar Car Team
Western Michigan University	Sunseeker 05	W Michigan Solar Car Team
Yale University	The John Lee	Team Lux