UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA SOLAR ELECTRIC CAR.

This vehicle is driven by a separately excited dc motor with solid-state field control. This arrangement makes regenerative braking practical. Propulsive power is supplied by a lead-acid, four-unit, 12 v storage battery. Field excitation is provided by 30 nickel-cadmium cells. Electricity to charge these batteries is supplied either by the 110 v utility power line or by indirect conversion from solar energy. The solar electric system uses parabolic collectors to intercept sunshine to heat a collector which in turn heats air to operate Sterling cycle air engines which drive electric generators. The electric car is driven in regular city traffic 32 kilometers on the average every work day. Each test run is approximately 8 kilometers, after which the batteries are recharged to restrict them to shallow cycling. The maximum speed is 97 kilometers per hour on a level road with a tire pressure of 3 atmospheres. At a speed of 40 kilometers per hour the car will travel a distance of 88 kilometers.