The final day of the race and The Phoenix did not disappoint. Of the 66.8 miles available in this last leg to Palmdale, we drove 51.7, and crossed the finish line at a top speed of 32 mph. We finished 5th for the day, and placed 5th overall in the Classic Division of the Solar Car Challenge. We are incredibly proud to announce that at the Awards Banquet later that night, we received a trophy for our placement, and the William Shih award, that is "Presented to the first year solar car team displaying the highest level of technological achievement." Two of our members, Lucas Duduit and Katelyn Townsend, also received the Order of the Solar Car, which is "Presented to those extremely special people who believe in high school solar car racing, and the great students who make it happen." This has been an amazing experience, one none of us are sure to forget. Now, it's time to take a couple of relaxation days and bring the Phoenix home!
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The second-to-last day and the results are great! Of the 191.7 mile trip from Tempe to Twentynine Palms, we drove 92.1 miles; our best mileage yet! We did receive a penalty for a hat-less team member, but we placed 4th for the day, bumping our overall position up to 5th. The Phoenix has made it to California in one piece and she has only one more leg to go. We are incredibly excited to finish strong tomorrow!
The Phoenix came back strong today! Of the 46.4 miles available from El Paso to Tempe, we drove all of them and finished with the third fastest time, at two hours and twenty-one minutes; our best place yet. We remain in 6th overall. The car is back up to full charge and we look forward to doing our absolute best these last two race days!
Today was wonderful for recuperating from the challenge's normal schedule. We visited the impound and gave information and demonstrations to curious spectators, including some college students from UTEP, who brought their own models that used solar and hydroelectric energy. We also spoke with other teams, learned how they were doing, and received some tips on how to better handle certain aspects of the race, such as time management and terrain. We were very disappointed to hear that one team, the Palmdale High School Solar Falcons, burned up their batteries, resulting in major damage to the vehicle. However, they have been working diligently to fix it, and the entire Solar Car Challenge is very impressed with their determination. Tomorrow, the Phoenix is on the road to Arizona!
The Phoenix drove 52.1 miles of the 102.7 available for the distance between Carlsbad and El Paso, placing in 8th for the day and 6th overall. The depleted charging time hit us hard today, unfortunately, and the very hot temperatures paired with the sometimes harsh traffic and road conditions make it difficult for us to just pull aside and allow the car time to charge. However, tomorrow is our rest day, giving the Phoenix quite a while to get the voltage back up before Saturday. Although the race has been a blast, the schedule is tough, so the car isn't the only one getting a much needed break. Time to rejuvenate and get ready to kick back in action for day five.
Out of the 204.5 miles available for the drive from Snyder to Carlsbad, the Phoenix came in 5th with a total of 68.2 miles, placing us in 5th overall for the Classic Division. We're beginning to notice a bit of an issue with charging our batteries; we don't have enough time for them to reach their full voltage. The race is eight hours long each day, meaning the car rarely receives full sunlight without being in motion, which drains the batteries. These hills are especially rough, far from the flat Illinois plains we're used to. However, we remain fully confident in the Phoenix and her ability to get us through the race. We're very happy with our results thus far and are looking forward to our last day before our rest day. To the border we go!
Today, the Phoenix drove 72.2 miles of the 182.2 available from Fort Worth to Snyder and finished 4th overall in the Classic Division for the day. A great start to the race! We experienced some issues towards the end due to an unfortunate accident of one of our drivers hitting the panel disconnect, and we received 4 miles in penalties due to some hat-less members and a small safety issue, but we're very pleased with today's results and looking forward to tomorrow!
Happy Sunday, everyone! Our team arrived in Texas just a few short days ago and are ready for the race tomorrow. So far we have already passed scrutineering in as little as two days (of the three) and will be the seventh team to leave, so if you're there to see us off, wish us luck! From this point on, the Phoenix is ready to fly!
Just under a week ago, six of our team members (Katelyn, Connor, Lucas, Jessica, and Trinity) attended the HAM Nation Field Day in Hillsboro, IL, to meet faces behind call signs, share our story, and show the car to anyone who was interested. There we met Bob Heil, founder of Heil Sound. In this podcast-type video, at around fifteen minutes, he discusses The Phoenix, as well as the Photons, and we thought it best to share it with everyone here. Enjoy!
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNkB-A45AOQ&t=1192s |