Cluj students build a two-seat solar vehicle for the Cruiser class

TVR's news site reports that students in Cluj have built, on their own, a new solar-charged vehicle for international races. It competes in a class where vehicles must be as close as possible to production models and have room for at least two people. The report does not give its name; it is Voyager Origin, the team's Cruiser.

“This year we will have a new vehicle, with two seats, and we will race in the Cruiser class. Their aim is to imitate the vehicles we see on the street”

Paul Opriș, project coordinator

According to TVR, the vehicle runs on solar power, has a carbon-fibre body and is much lighter than a conventional vehicle. It can reach 100 km/h, and its battery stores the surplus energy from the panels. The prototype builds on what the team learned the year before, at the race in Australia.

Paul Opriș, named as project coordinator, explains the new class: this year the team has a two-seat vehicle and will race in the Cruiser class, whose entries imitate the vehicles seen on the street. The students have also improved last year's vehicle, especially the reliability of its electrical and mechanical systems, the steering, the suspension and the battery.

About 70 students from several faculties work on the project. Marian Vlad, the software coordinator, tells TVR that the experience gained in Solis carries over easily into an engineer's everyday work. The idea of the solar vehicle dates from 2018; since then, TVR says, the team has cut the weight of its prototypes from almost 500 kg to under 200 kg, and the estimated range is now up to 400 km.