News - 2017

The 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, One of the World’s Most Well-Known Solar Car Events, Kicks Off in Australia on October 8

-Event brings together the greatest minds from around the world to challenge electric vehicle norms-

2017/09/27

Tokyo (September 27, 2017) - Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) today announced the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, one of the world’s most well-known solar car events, will take place in Australia from October 8-15, 2017 (local time). Bridgestone is the title sponsor of this event, which brings together the greatest minds from around the world to challenge electric vehicle norms and travel the outback in a vehicle powered only by the power of the sun.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of this event, which brings together university students and young engineers from 21 countries to participate in the race, encompassing about 3,000 km (1864 miles) on the Australian continent.

The race consists of three classes: Challenger Class, which is a contest of speed; Cruiser Class, which is a competition of vehicles’ energy efficiency and practicality; and Adventure Class, which is a non-competitive class open to various types of vehicles. A total of 42 teams from 21 countries are scheduled to compete. For the race, Bridgestone will supply fuel-efficient “ECOPIA with ologic” tires for solar cars to 21 of the 40 teams competing in the Challenger Class and Cruiser Class races.

Bridgestone is committed to continually working toward a sustainable society to help ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations. Through events like the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, Bridgestone is helping expand educational opportunities to support young engineers who will drive the development of technologies to help realize a sustainable society.

Introduction video of the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge

Overview of the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge:

1. Date	: October 8-15, 2017
2. Host Country	: Australia (Start: Darwin; Goal: Adelaide)
3. Host	: South Australian Tourism Commission
4. Race Classes	: (1)Challenger Class A race to be first in vehicles designed for speed; vehicles require four wheels and one driver. (2)Cruiser Class A race testing vehicles' energy efficiency and practicality; vehicles must have four wheels and be able to be ridden by one driver and more than one passenger. (3)Adventure Class A race open to vehicles that do not meet the requirements to compete in the Challenger Class or Cruiser Class, such as vehicles based on the regulations of prior competitions; vehicles must have more than three wheels.

Event schedule

Date	Details	Location
October 3-6	Static scrutineering	Darwin
October 5	Welcome party hosted by Bridgestone	Darwin
October 7	Dynamic scrutineering (time trials)	Hidden Valley Motor Sports Complex (Darwin)
October 8	Start of the race	Darwin
October 12	Opening of the goal	Adelaide
October 15	Street parade and award ceremony	Adelaide

“ECOPIA with ologic” tires for solar cars

“ologic” is Bridgestone’s fuel-efficient tire technology with a narrow tread and a larger diameter of the tire, which realizes high level of fuel efficiency and safety. Bridgestone supplies fuel-efficient “ECOPIA with ologic,” tire which is based on the “ologic” concept for solar cars to 21 teams participating in the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.

Teams Bridgestone supplies tires

No	Team	Car Name	Country/Region	Class
5	SunSPEC	SunSPEC5	Singapore	Cruiser
7	Adelaide University Solar Racing Team	Lumen II	Australia	Challenger
8	Punch Powertrain Solar Team	Punch Two	Belgium	Challenger
9	PrISUm	Penumbra	United States	Cruiser
10	Tokai University	Tokai Challenger	Japan	Challenger
11	HS Bochum SolarCar-Team	thyssenkrupp blue.cruiser	Germany	Cruiser
14	Flinders Automotive Solar Team	Investigator Mk Ⅲ	Australia	Cruiser
15	Western Sydney Solar Team	Unlimited 2.0	Australia	Challenger
25	NITech Solar Racing	Horizon 17	Japan	Challenger
32	Principia Solar Car	Ra X	United States	Challenger
35	IVE Solar Car Team	SOPHIE Ⅵ	Hong Kong	Cruiser
37	GOKO HIGH SCHOOL	MUSOUSHIN	Japan	Challenger
38	NWU Solar	Naledi	South Africa	Challenger
40	Solar Team Eindhoven	Stella Vie	Netherlands	Cruiser
45	Lodz Solar Team	Eagle Two	Poland	Cruiser
71	ITU Solar Car Team	B.O.W. ISTANBUL	Turkey	Challenger
75	UNSW Solar Racing Team Sunswift	Violet	Australia	Cruiser
77	Blue Sky Solar Racing	Polaris	Canada	Challenger
88	Kogakuin University Solar Team	Wing	Japan	Challenger
94	University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project	Eos Ⅱ	United States	Cruiser
95	National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences (KUAS) & St. John’s University Solar Car Team	Apollo Ⅷ	Taiwan	Cruiser

About Bridgestone Corporation:
Bridgestone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. In addition to tires for use in a wide variety of applications, it also manufactures a broad range of diversified products, which include industrial rubber and chemical products and sporting goods. Its products are sold in over 150 nations and territories around the world.