Ilanga Cup: The Sun Shines on the 12-Hour Solar Car Enduro Race

Ilanga Cup: The Sun Shines on the 12-Hour Solar Car Enduro Race

The Ilanga Cup is a relatively new competition, being only the second-ever iteration of the race, in which engineering students and groups compete to see who can cover the farthest distance in a period of 12 hours using solar-powered cars. Although Red Star Raceway is the chosen venue, the emphasis is on distance, not speed. 

Universities, businesses, and even a high school have fielded teams for this solar-powered race. Here's a list of the participating squads:

TUT (Tshwane University of Technology) with Sunchaser 4, Challenger Class,

H.T.S. John Vorster with Voltwagen, Challenger Class

Mpumalanga SolarFlairs in Solar Flair 2, Challenger Class

UNISA in Tiger, Cruiser Class

EVNXT in Bumblebee, Cruiser Class

There are different groups in which you can compete. The first is the Challenger group, which is typically made up of, but is not limited to, experienced teams with state-of-the-art machines and large budgets. These are the fastest types of solar cars, and while there are several configurations to choose from, only catamarans were entered this year. The second category is Cruisers. These cars, while slower, are more efficient and feature two or more seats.

As a major sponsor of national solar challenges like the Ilanga Cup and the Sasol Solar Challenge, Bridgestone plays a significant role in the organisation of these competitions. It's commendable that prominent companies take an interest in local developments, particularly when they hold potential for future applications.

Of course, there are a lot of factors to consider when designing a car like this, and the odd shapes serve a purpose. For instance, upon closely inspecting the Sunchaser 4, the fastest car on the track, I noticed its unique catamaran shape was balanced with the driver's seat on one side and the batteries on the other, with a highly aerodynamic carbon fibre shell and solar panels covering the majority of the bodywork.

The Ilanga Cup Challenge is a great testing ground for the latest in solar technology and is great conditioning for the ever-popular Sasol Solar Challenge, which sees solar cars compete in a roadtrip-like race format stretching from Johannesburg to Cape Town.  

At the moment, the Ilanga Cup is a rather modest event, but considering that this is only the second iteration of the competition, we hope to see more teams battle it out in the future. 

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So, here are the results for the Ilanga Cup Solar Challenge:

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Challenger Class

1st: TUT Solar Car Team

2nd: HTS John Vorster

3rd: Mpumalanga SolarFlairs

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Cruiser Class 

1st: EVNXT

2nd: UniSolar