A car has made a record-breaking 1,000km - 621 miles- trip on a single charge - powered by the sun. The solar-powered Sunswift 7 averaged nearly 85kph - 53mph - in under 12 hours to set a Guinness World Record.
The car, designed and built by students at UNSW Sydney, posted a verified time of 11 hours 52 minutes, completing its record with eight minutes to spare. Completing the challenge at the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC) in Wensleydale, Victoria, the Sunswift Racing team now hold the record for the ‘Fastest EV over 1,000km on a single charge’
The vehicle completed 240 laps of AARC’s Highway Circuit, equivalent to more than the driving distance from Sydney to Melbourne, to break the record. The car stopped only to allow for a change of driver every few hours – plus one tyre change due to a puncture and a nerve-wracking battery management repair. The official honour, and Guinness World Record certificate, was conferred a few days later once timing information and car telemetry data had been analysed and confirmed by a team of experts.
