During the last few weeks, on top of all the work going on at the workshop, we have been also been busy testing and characterising Ivy in preparation for the World Solar Challenge. We’ve been fortunate enough to get access to the Sydney International Regatta Centre, which has a beautifully flat stretch of road alongside the Olympic Competition Lake. This has allowed us to do coasting tests and collect data on the mechanical performance of the car. This data is valuable both for tracking the effect of changes on the car, and for accurately modelling Ivy for use in race strategy simulations. As a bonus, it means we’ve had some gorgeous days out on the lake!

Coasting tests at the Sydney International Regatta Centre

Throughout the year we have also been doing preliminary testing and driver training at the Sydney Dragway in Eastern Creek, and the Honda Australia Rider Training (HART) facility in St Ives. Sydney Dragway kindly gave us access to both their drag strip and a wide open testing area, where we could start to train our new drivers and test our systems before heading out to the highway.

Preparing the car for testing at the Sydney Dragway

We are very thankful to the venues that make controlled testing of our solar car possible – these testing days have been so important for us before taking our car out to the open road.

Speaking of open road, over the last month we’ve taken Ivy on some big trips to Lake George and Berrima, to train the team in mock race conditions and measure the car’s performance on the highway. I might leave that one hanging, and wait until the next update to post some nice pictures of Ivy out in her element.