This photo voltaic electrical truck climbed the world’s highest volcano and set a brand new file [video]

A photo voltaic electrical truck climbed the world’s highest volcano utilizing solar energy alone – and set a brand new world file for altitude for an EV.

A Swiss workforce known as Peak Evolution, which is sponsored by Austrian transport and logistics firm Gebrüder Weiss, efficiently climbed the western fringe of Ojos del Salado, 6,500 meters above sea stage in Chile, of their solar-powered electrical truck.

Two months in the past, the electrical truck was transported to Chile from Switzerland by way of Rotterdam by sea freight. From there, it was transported overland to the Atacama area, the place the workforce started to arrange for his or her ascent at Chile’s Maricunga Salt Lake, which is at an altitude of three,400 meters (11,155 ft).

The expedition automobile relies on a multi-purpose Aebi VT450 transporter, however as an alternative of fuel, it’s pushed by two electrical motors with an output of 120 kW every. It encompasses a 300 V nominal EcoVolta lithium-ion battery with 90 kWh capability and has a 200 km (124-mile) vary.

The photo voltaic electrical truck is charged with 4 rooftop photo voltaic panels and 16 panels which might be laid out on the bottom. The panels have a peak energy of 370 W and 22.5% cell effectivity. The overall output of the system is 7.4 kWp, so a variety of round 150 km (93 miles) may be achieved in round 5 hours.

The solar energy is fed again to the truck with a DC coupled charging system with triple redundancy in case of element failure, and there are 5 photo voltaic cost controllers that maximize the power generated. There’s additionally a 230 V AC inverter so the workforce might cost up their gear.

The cool factor about electrical automobiles, together with this photo voltaic EV, is that, not like fuel automobiles, they don’t lose energy at excessive altitudes. However the excessive terrain and environmental circumstances of the world’s highest volcano put the photo voltaic electrical truck – and the workforce of three, who’re skilled mountaineers – to the check.

“Regardless of these excessive circumstances, our specifically developed automobile managed to drive greater than every other e-vehicle – not to mention a solar-powered one,” mentioned Patrik Koller, CEO and developer at Peak Evolution. “We’ve been coaching for this second for 4 years, so giving up was by no means an possibility.”

Try this brief video of the workforce making their journey under:

Learn extra: This electrical excavator was airlifted to rebuild James Bond’s cable automobile within the Swiss Alps

Pictures: Gebrüder Weiss/Anna Pocinska

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