The aerodynamic characteristics of the Nuna6 solar car designed by the Nuon Solar Team (Delft, NL) were tested today in the German/Dutch wind tunnel facility in Marknesse (NL), the largest wind tunnel in Europe. The tests showed that, with its new shape, the car has a nearly 10% lower drag than the previous Nuna5 model in 2009. This is a very successful result. In 2009, the designers thought that the Nuna concept had reached its limits in terms of wind resistance.
The Nuon Solar Team’s Nuna6 will be competing in the 2011 World Solar Challenge in Australia. The team aims to bring the solar racing world cup back to Delft. After winning the event four times in a row, the Nuon Solar Team finished second in the 2009 edition of the World Solar Challenge.
“It’s important that Nuna6 has perfect aerodynamic characteristics”, said team leader Pier van Zonneveld. “It’s not just a matter of minimising air resistance; we also needed to make sure the air flow around the car causes as little turbulence as possible, to improve the handling of the car.” The success of the Nuna concept is evident from the fact that it is being copied by more and more competitors.
How high is the drag of the new car? About as much as a side mirror of a truck while driving at 100 km/h. In cooperation with DSM, the team opted for the latest technology, resulting in a structure that is 25% stiffer and can be built with much less material. Thanks to the aerodynamics of the Nuna6, its low weight and the specially developed tyres, the total energy consumption of the Nuna6 is over ten times lower than that of a modern electric car. The efficiency of the Nuna motor is 98%.
Nuna6 is the lightest car the team has ever had. It weighs around 145 kg, approximately half the weight of the first Nuna model in 2001. It is also the smallest car in the Nuna family, with a length of exactly 444 cm.