For a week before and during the 2016 American Solar Challenge at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum, Pennsylvania, Appalachian’s solar vehicle drivers weaved between traffic cones in slalom handling tests, clocked times, kidded to fast stops in wet road brake tests, and jumped from their vehicles in quick egress tests; crews demonstrated solar array charging capacity, battery load bearing and capacity; and dozens of details, including driver registration, insurance and support vehicle graphics, were scrutinized or, using track vernacular, “scrutineered.” And, after hours, there was laundry to be done.
An Appalachian team seeks to change the future of transportation with a solar race car
About Appalachian State University
As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.
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