Fleet drives transport into a greener future

The Panasonic World Solar Challenge (PWSC) is back this month (21-28 October) and is celebrating its 20th anniversary with another 3000 km journey straight down Australia's desert belly, on the Stuart Highway — from Darwin, Northern Territory to Adelaide, South Australia.

Solar cars are not the only stars of the PWSC. The international biennial event also celebrates the greener vehicle solutions that are already starting to appear on our roads — as well as some conceptual vehicles at the brink of further testing and development.

The event has three different classes — two for solar cars (the Challenge Class and Adventure Class) and a third class for vehicles demonstrating new fuel-efficient technologies (the Greenfleet Technology Class).

This year, the whole event consists of 61 teams from 19 countries — there are 40 solar cars and 21 vehicles in the Greenfleet Technology Class.

The Greenfleet Technology Class provides a platform for car manufacturers, engineers and technology enthusiasts to showcase and test their research and ingenuity, with respect to range and reliability.

"We don't pre-judge what forms of technology are evident in the entries — great ingenuity can sometimes spring from ideas and concepts that seem fanciful, even silly, in the beginning," PWSC event manager Chris Selwood said.

The technology class is divided into two sections — one for road registered vehicles and one for prototype or concept vehicles. All entrants are asked to provide comprehensive details of fuel and other vehicle energy sources, to formulate a greenhouse profile.

The technology class is run in a series of stages with overnight stops in regional and outback centres such as Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, Coober Pedy and Port Augusta.

For more information, visit www.wsc.org.au.