The Aurora Vehicle Association is a group of volunteers who are dedicated to achieving and demonstrating extreme efficiency in transport. Aurora was started in 1980 by building high-fuel-efficiency petrol-powered vehicles. Between 1983 and 1985 Aurora held the world record for fuel economy at 1808 km per litre. In 1987, when Hans Tholstrup devised the first trans-Australian World Solar Challenge, Aurora turned to solar car development and has been a contestant in every World Solar Challenge and has achieved 1 win, 4 second places, 1 third place, 1 fifth place, 1 sixth place and 1 crash. Aurora is a non-profit group which is sustained by corporate sponsorship from companies such as CSIRO, Mazda and Sumitomo. At various points in its history, Aurora has also been associated with some of Australia's leading universities such as UNSW, University of Technology, Sydney, University of Melbourne and RMIT.
Cars
Aurora have constructed several solar-powered cars and are now in their 4th generation of car designs. Ford Model "S" - 1987 Christine - 1990 Aurora Q1 - 1993 Southern Aurora - 2000 Aurora 101 - 1996 The current flagship is known as Aurora Evolution. The car weighs 120 kg without batteries or a driver and has attained speeds of 155 km/h. It is built around a triangular carbon fibre frame with a single driven front wheel and two rear wheels. The car's body is attached to the frame at three points through springs and shock absorbers. The car is extremely aerodynamic, with a drag coefficient of 0.1 and a frontal area of 0.76 square metres. The motor, which was developed as a joint effort between CSIRO, the University of Technology, Sydney and Aurora, weighs 15 kg and has a continuous operating power of 1.8 kW. The car's power comes from its solar array, which covers a majority of the upper half of its body. There is a total of 5.98 square metres of silicon solar cells, which originally provided up to 1250 W but now provides closer to 1200 W due to degradation. In full racing trim the car weighs 240 kg with its batteries and driver. Aurora 101 finished second in the 2003 WSC race Aurora 101 finished 3rd in the 2007 WSC race.
