05-06-2013 - Aurora focuses on fully road legal car design and will run Aurora Evolution in the 2013 WSC
The Aurora Solar Car team will run its existing car Aurora Evolution in this year’s World Solar Challenge, this decision has been driven by the desire to move the team from a competition focus to one aimed at building practical approachable solar cars, with the key aim of designing a fully Australian road legal solar car. This approach requires a level of design complexity unseen in previous generations of competition cars and the team is choosing to invest that time in preference to rushing a design to competition.
To work toward that goal, key elements of the new electrical and electrical safety systems designed for Aurora Solaris will be fitted to Aurora Evolution in readiness for its competion in the Adventure class. This will also allow the team to field test components and software in one of the harshest road challenges on earth.
The team will also be spending the time prior to the race in a transition phase as Aurora’s valued long term sponsor CSIRO undertakes a $230 million dollar redevelopment of the site currently occupied by Aurora’s workshop and its surrounds. This upgrade will give CSIRO the ability to establish the Factories of the Future Innovation Centre, and to compete for more international researchers to carry out its important work. Unfortunately this will mean Aurora will need to relocate workshop which is a process that will take time and planning.
Looking to the future the team hopes to have finalised the designs of a road legal Solaris Concept Car in coming months and can say there are many exciting talks going on in the background with varying industries and industry bodies that may see the concept become far bigger than anyone on the team ever imagined.
Further infomation:
Infomation about the CSIRO revelopment: http://minister.innovation.gov.au/craigemerson/MediaReleases/Pages/InvestinginAustraliasworldleadingscience.aspx
World Solar Challange: http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/
