Nuon Solar Team presents Nuna7: ‘this year promises to be the most exciting race ever!’

Delft, 2 July 2013 – Today the Nuon Solar Team presented its new solar car in Delft. The Nuna7 is the team´s first four-wheel solar car. In October 2013 the team will enter the World Solar Challenge in Australia for the seventh time. This year´s event will welcome 48 student teams from 26 countries. Since 2001, the Nuon Solar Team has won four times, and finished second twice.

This year, new competition rules require all teams to compete in the world championship solar races in a four-wheel solar car. For this, Nuon Solar Team had to overhaul its tried and tested three-wheel design. Redesigned, the Nuna7 is clearly different from its predecessors. But, apart from the extra wheel, the Nuna7 is still extremely light (150 kilo) and aerodynamic which will help to achieve top speeds of over 185 km/h. The design is evolutionary asymmetrical: the driver is no longer in the centre, but at the side, between front and rear wheel. The 450-centimetre long car is propelled by a panel of 6m2 silicon solar cells.

Nuna7 set to claim back the world cup

‘This year promises to be one of the most exciting World Solar Challenges ever. New regulations meant we had to discard the successful design of our previous six Nunas. But again we have managed to come up with a car eager to take on its competitors‘, says a proud Marlies Hak, the first female team captain of the Nuon Solar Team. Since mid 2012, a team of 16 young talents from a variety of TU Delft studies have worked in secret designing and constructing Nuna7. ‘It is a wonderful project where we combine the very best in engineering with the very best in sport´.

World Solar Challenge

Participation in the World Solar Challenge is restricted to cars exclusively propelled by solar energy. The start of the biannual event this year will be in Darwin, on Sunday 6 October. The 3000 kilometre race through the outback will end in Adelaide on 13 October.
When the Nuon Solar Team first took part in 2001, it came in first. After taking the title four times in a row, the team came in second in both 2009 and 2011 following a nail-biting race with competing teams from Tokia University (Japan) and Michigan University (USA). This year the team will fly to Australia to claim the solar race world cup and bring it back to Delft. A win for the Nuon Solar Team would be the fifth win for Delft students.

Survival in Australia

Since the solar cars will join ordinary traffic on the public motorways during the race, they will need to observe the speed restrictions and Australia´s highway code. Every day, teams can start racing at 8:00 a.m.. Teams must stop at 5 p.m. and set up camp by the side of the road. This makes the World Solar Challenge more than just a race – it even requires some survival skills.

Nuon Solar Team

Every two years, the Nuon Solar Team is put together from students at TU Delft who suspend their studies to build a solar car. The team members come from a range of studies, from Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Industrial Design Engineering and Mechanical Engineering to Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics. Energy company Nuon has been the Nuon Solar Team´s main sponsor since 2001. By participating in the World Solar Challenge, Nuon stimulates interest in engineering as well as young talent.

More information
Nuon Solar Team, Leslie Nooteboom
Tel (+31) 68 - 3526471
[email protected]
www.nuonsolarteam.nl
Twitter: @leslienooteboom of @nuonsolarteam

Nuon, Ton Boon
Tel (+31) 88 – 09 88 888
[email protected]
nieuws.nuon.nl
Twitter: @tonboon of @nuonnieuws