When the new members of Team Solar started in September 2022 they thought of a lot of ideas. But designing a car for commercial production wasn’t on their list. They decided to strive for a more inspiring goal as Thieme Bosman, who manages PR and Events for the team tells us: “We wanted to show the world that an autonomous, off-road EV could be built.” What makes this even more special is that the team only had a moderate understanding of the working of cars. Their studies had little to nothing to do with automobiles.
Fundamental research
Thieme compared the process of designing and building the Stella Terra to fundamental research: “Forget the conventions and design and build everything from scratch.” That mindset helped them create a suspension that is just as rigid as de classic varieties, but much larger. They also developed inverters that were much more efficient.
The cooperation with companies in the Brainport region really helped them along. Thieme: “For everything we needed, there was a specialist nearby. We discussed and shared findings with them. That way, we got some very useful input and feedback and they could study our inventions.”
Into the dessert
The team found a perfect wat to test drive a solar-powered off-road vehicle: a long ride through the Moroccan dessert. Off-road the car performed great, but – the irony – a pothole in a paved road proved fatal for the steering rod. Thanks to the efforts of a few team members and a few companies that halted their production to help Team Solar, a new rod was designed and manufactured in a matter of 3 days. A photographer who was on his way to Morocco, had a very special piece of luggage to declare as he took the rod with him. An extensive article about this test drive can be read here (Dutch + login required). A slightly shorter article can be found here on the TU/e site (English – no login required).
Still much to do
Their time on Team Solar has ended, but some members have found their calling in the automotive world. One of them landed a job at Tesla and while others continue their study at TU/e, Thieme is considering also taking on a communication study: “Building a bridge between innovation and society is great work. Especially towards car manufacturers, there is still a lot of work to do in that regard. Because it takes more than making existing models electric to really make mobility sustainably. You really must start from scratch.”
The project sparked interest from manufacturers, car lovers and… people who want to make their mobile homes more sustainable. Thieme: “There are lots of people who want to travel more sustainable, but there are few companies that can help them achieve that goal. We are more than happy to share our knowledge with them. Through them and though the events where Stella Sterra will be shown and demonstrated, we can give the world a glimpse of what is possible. We think that is a great result of our electric adventure.”
