Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Alternative Energy

If you're into cars that run on alternative fuels, then this is your lucky week. The Global Green Challenge is a 3,000 kilometer race through the center of Australia that starts in Darwin in the north, finishes in Adelaide in the south, and takes the participants through desert, rainforest and coastal plains.

The race, which began as the World Solar Challenge in 1987, is held every two years. Teams come from around the world to race their kooky looking solar-powered cars that resemble space ships. Most of the teams are made up of engineering students, and the competition is quite earnest.

This year, in addition to the solar concept car competition, there will be a second race called The Eco Challenge, which will include alternative fuel cars that are actually in production around the world.

The 17 entries include electric, hydrogen, ethanol, diesel and hybrids from major car makers like Ford, Toyota, and BMW. The Tesla will also be there, and we all know it's going to win, because it's fast, pretty and is representing for NorCal!

You can track the progress of the race this week on the Real Time Map on the Global Green Challenge site, which includes live updates on the weather. As you can imagine, the status of sun vs. rain is of huge interest when you have a bunch of solar powered cars racing each other across a continent!

Global Green Challenge: Car Racing Gone Green in Australia originally appeared on Green Daily on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:01:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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