Call for Funding for Australian Road Ready Solar Car Goes Viral!
Australian Road Ready Solar Car ( Solar Thermal Magazine) – It seems that the concept of a road ready solar car has hit a chord with social media. The latest round of fundraising by the University of South Wales for their Sunshot solar car was met in just 10 days! The $30,000 campaign launched on Pozible December 1st will allow the team to rebuild their car so that it meets Australian road registration requirements.At the time of this Solar Thermal Magazine publication, the car has received pledges of $34,500.
I know that the fans of our magazine and facebook page will drive this even higher in the 6 days to go!
Here is the link to be part of this incredible adventure.
The team’s long-term goal is to bring solar-electric cars within reach of the average driver. Project director Hayden Smith had this to say:
The $30,000 raised through Pozible is enough to make all of the compulsory and necessary changes we need to bring our car to the streets of Australia.
Every dollar we raise above this target lets us invest even further in cutting-edge technology such as carbon fibre suspension, more efficient motors, and an increased number of solar panels for the car.
The team believes they could have the car on Australian roads as early as March 2015. Sunswift’s chief business officer and student Rob Ireland commented as well:
When we’re closer to getting the car road-legal it’s going to really hit home just how commercially viable these cars can be. Road registration is really going to have an impact on people’s perceptions of solar-electric cars.
Smith thanked all the supporters of the crowd-funding campaign to date.
“The success of the campaign is an amalgamation of a wonderful group of friends, family and community, along with the extraordinary generosity of a few key individuals,” he said. Those individuals include Andre Quin, founder of startup Just Get It Done, and Ian Sharp.
The crowd-funding campaign caps an extremely successful year for the Sunswift team, which included smashing a 26-year-old world record for the fastest electric vehicle over 500km.
The Pozible campaign closes on December 22.
Photo credit Sunswift
Gordon’s expertise in the area of industrial energy efficiency and alternative energy. He is an experienced electrical engineer with a Masters degree in Alternative Energy technology. He is the co-founder of several renewable energy media sites including Solar Thermal Magazine.
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