The car that can travel 300 kilometres on the energy a Tesla uses for 25

It’s the car that can travel 300 kilometres using the same amount of energy a Tesla uses to go 25.

Meet UNLIMITED 6.0, a solar car created by 20 students from Western Sydney University set to compete in the 2025 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.

The vehicle, which will race 3000 kilometres from Darwin to Adelaide against 36 other teams from 16 countries next month.

Andrew Grima will drive the car over 3000 kilometres from Darwin to Adelaide.Credit: Sam Mooy

The World Solar Challenge was first held in 1987, but this year’s race poses a new challenge for teams: Previously run in mid-October, the 2025 challenge will begin on August 24, well before daylight savings time begins.

The expected 20 per cent less sun will make energy management difficult, but the team’s mechanical lead, Aaron Sharman, said the team could use live weather data to determine optimal speeds for adverse weather conditions.

“We can calculate where the clouds are, and then we receive information from the car, and then we can use machine learning algorithms to computationally create the ideal speed to go in the rain,” he said.

Members of the Western Sydney Solar Car Challenge team with their vehicle, UNLIMITED 6.0. Credit: Sam Mooy

The WSU team last raced in 2023, coming ninth. Since, they have created a new solar-powered car to compete in the challenger class, a time-based competition for single-seat solar vehicles.

In 2023, UNSW team Sunswift Racing placed first in the cruiser class, in which teams develop vehicles designed to be road-legal.

The WSU students have been in consultation with Formula 1 aerodynamicists to develop their design. In 2023, their car weighed 197 kilograms – this year they are hoping for less.

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“We’ve designed the lightest suspension system that we’ve ever created, using space-grade materials. We use mainly aluminium for these components,” Sharman said.

“We really need to take advantage of having a very light car.”

Sharman first joined the team in March 2021, and was heavily involved in the 2023 competition.

Though he is not the driver, he and the rest of the team will drive alongside UNLIMITED 6.0 in a convoy for the entire length of the race, driving from 8am to 5pm each day and camping overnight.

The car has been in development for two years, with vigorous work and testing resulting in more than 1500 kilometres on the odometer before UNLIMITED 6.0 crosses the start line. But Sharman remembers the period with fondness.

“It is very fulfilling just seeing the car that you’ve spent so much time, money, blood, sweat and tears on, driving 1500 kilometres before you even start the competition,” he said.

UNLIMITED 6.0 was unveiled on Sydney’s Pyrmont Bridge on Friday morning.

Constructed between 1899 and 1902, it is the world’s oldest surviving electrically operated swing span bridge, and was also considered a cutting-edge use of electricity when constructed.

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