Axiom Weight Loss Program

Although our team is extremely happy with the performance of our solar car during the last race we participated in (the American Solar Challenge (ASC) 2010), we believe that the sheer weight of our car prevented us from obtaining an even higher standard of performance. At approximately 600 pounds, we were one of, if not the heaviest car that competed at the race, and although we won the Mechanical Engineering Excellence Award (which acknowledged the efficient mechanical functionality of the car), some aspects of our car are unnecessarily strong - the root cause of our less than desirable weight. Since the end of the race, however, our team has begun to locate possible areas of improvement on the car in preparation for the 2011 World Solar Challenge (WSC) in Australia. In order to ensure successful modifications to the car before the next race we have implemented the “Schulich Axiom Weight Loss Program”. The goal of this program is to reduce the weight of the car to an ideal 450 pounds. In order to accomplish this goal our team has pinpointed certain areas on the car that are too heavy and need to be reduced in weight. So far the team has rebuilt a few components, such as the seat, and the lid for the battery storage compartment. These modifications and a few others are briefly summarized as follows:

Component Initial Weight Modified Weight Weight Saving
Battery box lid 1.44 lb 0.50 lb 0.94 lb
Motor Controller casing/mount 2.00 lb 0.22 lb 1.78 lb
Seat 6.60 lb 1.50 lb 5.10 lb
Batteries 55.0 lb 46.2 lb 8.80 lb
Weather-proofing 5.00 lb 1.00 lb 4.00 lb

Total Savings = 20.62 lb

In addition to the changes listed above, we will also be remaking the top shell of the car, due to regulations on the permitted area of the solar cell array. This component will undoubtedly constitute the bulk of our weight reductions, as we are hoping that this will remove 75 pounds from the overall weight. This decrease is due to factors such as the use of less material during the encapsulation of the cells, and less fiber during the production of the shell (a fiber reduction from four layers to two removes roughly 25 pounds alone).

Even small weight savings to the car are significant, as every pound is directly linked to its power consumption. We will continue to search for more ways to make Schulich Axiom even lighter so that we can exceed the benchmark that we’ve set in previous races!