For more than three years, the Solar Vehicle Design Team has been developing and building a solar-powered vehicle to run in the North American Solar Challenge-a race in which solar-powered vehicles from the United States and Canada travel along Route 66 from Chicago to Arizona.
The project began in May 2002 as a senior assignment for mechanical engineering students. The goal was to have the vehicle completed in time for the 2003 Challenge. Unfortunately, the car was not finished in time, but Jameson Drechsel and Forest Mooy, recent U alumni in mechanical engineering, continued manufacturing the vehicle.
While at the U, Drechsel and Mooy made the vehicle their senior project and founded the design team.
“Much of the fund-raising that the (previous group) had in place fell through in the last semester (before the competition),” Drechsel said. “Myself and some other students helped as sophomores, and we kept it going because it is such a great idea.”
The team built and designed many of the parts for the vehicle and performed the welding of each part to its frame.
Manufacturing companies donated some of the parts used for the car, and the Associated Students of the University of Utah also provided the group with some funding.
Although the vehicle has not yet been road tested, Drechsel said that it should reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. Whether the vehicle ever has the chance to test those speeds remains to be seen.
Drechsel tries to visit the project a couple of times each week, but his time is limited as he is currently working on a master’s degree in acoustics at Brigham Young University.
“There is so much to do on this project, and the resources are here,” Drechsel said, noting a brand new motor along with the other parts. “I’m hoping that someone here at the U will choose the vehicle as their project this spring.”
Mechanical engineering professor Eberhard Bamberg believes the vehicle offers an excellent opportunity.
“There is a lot of work to be done (to complete the vehicle), but the foundation is there and with a certain level of commitment the project has a chance of becoming realized.”
Students who take Bamberg’s Design Methodology class will have the opportunity to continue constructing the U’s solar vehicle.