The latest news of the team.
Vice European Champions
After a very exciting but also exhausting 24 hours the iLumen European Solar Challenge 2021 comes to an end – We are Vice European Champion with the Covestro Sonnenwagen!
At 1 pm on Saturday 18.9. the 24h race started with a spectacular Le Mans style start and all 14 solar cars started into the race. With the Covestro Sonnenwagen we were able to quickly settle into third place, with the Covestro Photon just behind. In the best weather, we were able to go lap by lap. Every two hours the drivers changed and were able to rest before their next stint.
It’s Race Time!
A few minutes ago, our two race cars, the Covestro Photon and the Covestro Sonnenwagen, started in the 24-hour race at Circuit Zolder. After a final night shift and enormous effort from the entire team, both cars successfully rolled out of the pits. The solar cells of the Covestro Photon are still giving us problems at the moment – but the car is running, and we are now looking at what the next 24 hours have in store for us on and off the track. Now we are looking forward to the race and hope for a successful conclusion.
Dynamic Parcours
e have achieved our first success. At the first judged part of the iLumen European Solar Challenge, the Dynamic Parcours, the teams had to prove their skill and speed of pilots and solar cars.
Acceleration, agility and driver precision are measured in different disciplines. For example, our drivers had to accelerate as fast as possible on a straight line, then drive through a cone chicane and finally come to a stop as precisely as possible on a line. The disciplines were then evaluated by the officials and added up to a total score. This score gives 20% of the total challenge points.
Green checkmarks
The race starts early in the morning at 10 a.m. and all teams set off with their solar cars for scrutineering. Right next to the race track, the cars are mechanically and electrically tested by the Challenge officials. 69 pages of regulations have to be fulfilled. For example, we must show that our drivers can get out of the car within 15 seconds. Lisa and Tobias were able to keep their cool and clearly undercut that with 11 seconds.
Back in Zolder
With the setup of the first tents on the campsite next to the race track, the iLumen European Solar Challenge 2021 has finally started. We are looking forward to an exciting race weekend with 11 other solar teams and a total of 14 solar cars. The challenge consists of several stages, which will take place in the next days. First of all, the cars will undergo technical scrutineering. Then the solar cars are allowed to test on the race track and collect the first points for the overall ranking in the dynamic parcours. Finally, we are ready for the highlight – the 24h race from Saturday to Sunday.
Sonnenwagen shines again
After we spent a lot of time in the workshop the last weeks to free the Covestro Sonnenwagen from the old paint and the underlying damage, it was time to help our solar car shine again.With the surface smoothed and sanded, the next step for us was to go to Hilden, near Düsseldorf.
The Sonnenwagen repair
An important part of the preparations for the European Solar Challenge 2020 is to restore the outer shell of the Covestro Sonnenwagen, which was damaged in our accident in Australia, to its original beauty.
VDE Tec Summit 2020
At the end of February, we were at the VDE Tec Summit in Berlin and displayed our Covestro Sonnenwagen. The event brings together representatives from companies, research, science and students. The topics of this year's summit were digitalization, sustainable concepts for the transportation transition, digital energy systems of the future and future technologies. Thus, we integrated well into the event and were, over the two days, a real eye-catcher.
Finally back home!
Five days after we reached the finish line in Darwin, the World Solar Challenge 2019 was not yet completely over for us. We had to put the Sonnenwagen safely packed into sea freight so that it could start the long journey home to Aachen. After several months at sea, it rolled back onto solid ground in Hamburg for the first time. A part of our team was eagerly waiting on site to finally receive the Sonnenwagen again.
Nothing can stop us! - Race Day 5
After yesterday's shock, the mood in the team was again characterized by pure motivation. In the night we finished all the minor repairs again and additionally concealed a few beauty flaws so that the sonnenwagen crosses the finish line in its full splendour. In a relatively short night under a splendid starry sky we prepared ourselves for the possibly last race day and drove off again punctually at 8 A.M.
When you think you have overcome the worst ... - Race Day 4
Just as we ended the previous day in the storm, the next race day began just as stormy. After we had freed the sun car from the sand again, we started the stage to Coober Pedy relieved with the expectation to have survived the worst. But contrary to our hopes, shortly before our arrival at the checkpoint we were even worse hit. It was a consequence of unfortunate events that we could not expect and simulate in this constellation.
Cloudy with a chance of sandstorms - Race Day 3
In the morning we started punctually into the third race day towards Alice Springs. Carried by pure sunshine and clear sky we were faster than expected. With an average speed of 95 km/h we reached Alice Springs and Kulgara. So on the third day we already did more than half of the distance! After repeated mistakes of the competition at the checkpoint we could extend our lead and catch up to the top 3.
The race to catch up - Race Day 2
At 5:30 the alarm clock rang. Just in time for sunrise the breakfast was prepared for the team. While the majority of the team took care of dismantling the tents, our electrical engineers were already working on optimising the sonnenwagen for the next leg to Tennant Creek, the longest leg of the race to date. The stage extended a good 400km through the Red Desert of Australia.
The race begins - Race Day 1
After our driver Olli could secure us in the qualification an excellent starting place No. 2, we started under great conditions into the race. 35 degrees, pure sunshine, accompanied by a few sheep clouds.
At the starting line directly in front of the parliament building of the Northern Territory in the heart of Darwin Christoph took over the steering wheel of the sonnenwagen for the first stage. This extends to Katherine, the first checkpoint on the way to Adelaide.
The first meters on Australian soil
The second stop on our journey from Adelaide to Darwin to compete in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2019 is Coober Pedy. In the opal capital of the world, the conditions for testing were ideal for us: seemingly endless highways with bright sunshine. But before that, we first had to overcome the approx. 800 kilometers between Nuriootpa and Coober Pedy.
The adventure goes into a new round!
Finally we are off! After more than two years of design and manufacturing work, the first part of our team has arrived in Australia. After our first participation in 2017, we are thus back again to compete with a new team and an even newer vehicle in the Outback.
Sonnenwagen: Next Generation
On Monday, July 22, 2019, the time had finally come: the "Covestro Sonnenwagen" was finally unveiled to the public after months of sweaty work in the workshop and discussions into the wee hours of the morning in the office. The ceremonial unveiling of the "Covestro Sonnenwagen" on Monday was also attended by North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister President Armin Laschet, who addressed motivational words to the team and guests in the evening in the auditorium of RWTH Aachen University.