The Innoptus Solar Team from the Catholic university of Leuven, KU Leuven, builders of solar cars for global competitions, have arrived in South Africa for the Sasol Solar Challenge.
Over eight days, the students will cover about 4,000 kilometres in their solar car from Johannesburg to Cape Town. The challenge’s length, elevated temperature, altitude and rough road conditions, along with the crossing of densely populated cities make it the most extreme solar car race in the world.
The Sasol Solar Challenge will take place from 13 to 20 September. The race is held biennially and KU Leuven’s engineering students had previously participated in 2022, when they came in second behind the Delft team. This year, the Innoptus Solar Team is aiming for the top spot.
The KU Leuven students will compete in the 10th Belgian solar car, named Infinite. This is the same car that a previous team from Leuven used to become world champions in Australia in October 2023.
Following that victory, the car was updated and enhanced. Optimum motor and battery cooling were implemented to reduce energy consumption. The aerodynamics were also fine-tuned using vortex generators, creating small vortices behind the registration plate to lessen air resistance.
The solar car was sent to South Africa at the end of July while the Solar Team arrived last week. In the coming weeks, the Infinite will undergo extensive testing, and last-minute details will be improved. The team will also familiarise themselves with the route.
