Oz university students set for electric-vehicle race around the world

MELBOURNE - A team of students from the University of South Australia is taking part in a race around the world in an electric-vehicle called TREV (Two-seater Renewable Energy Vehicle).

The team is driving the vehicle in an 80-day race around the world, which started in Switzerland this week.

The team will compete against rivals from Germany, South Korea and Switzerland in the race, which will cover more than 30,000 kilometres with the ultimate goal of making it to Cancun, Mexico, for the United Nations climate conference in November.

The four teams are set to make their way from Switzerland to Brussels, Berlin, Vienna, Moscow and then across to Shanghai, China.

The cars will then be shipped to Vancouver, and the event’s organisers say they will offset greenhouse emissions with investments into renewable energy projects through the myclimate carbon offset scheme.

After moving through Canada, the US, and Mexico, the vehicles will be shipped to Portugal, and eventually end up in Geneva, Switzerland in January 2011.

Along the way, each team can only recharge its vehicle from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, or hydroelectric power.

The event’s organiser, Louis Palmer, become the first person to drive a solar powered vehicle around the world, when he drove his European Solar Prize-winning SolarTaxi more than 54,000 kilometres across 38 countries in 18 months.

Palmer says the race is a step forward for a more environmentally sustainable automotive industry.

“With this race we want to show that seven billion people on this planet need renewable energy and clean mobility,” the Age quoted Palmer as saying.

“Petrol is running out, and the climate crisis is coming… and we are all running against time,” he added. (ANI)