Well this is a first.
Aston Martin has revealed an ingenious plan to keep their drivers cool during long, sweaty endurances races without affecting the actual power output of the car during the race.
Considering the fact that the sun is blazing down on the high powered cars during these long races, the British automaker has turned right to the source to help curb the hotness – the sun.
The company has said that they will be making use of solar panels affixed to their cars to power the air-conditioning inside the vehicles.
There have been countless occurrences of endurance racers passing out behind the wheel because of the intense heat inside the car. That is why the FIA – the governing body for world motor sport – has deemed that all World Endurance Championship cars now be equipped with sufficient climate control. The so-called ‘cockpit’ of the cars should be kept under 32 degrees Celsius at all times.
With traditional aircon’s draining too much power from the engine, getting power from a different source is very clever.
Aston Martin has teamed up with Hanergy Global Solar to equip their cars with thin, lightweight film that are made of photovoltaic solar panels and are really flexible. These strips of film will be affixed to both the car’s roof and rear windshield.
This will not only power the much needed air-conditioning but also other systems in the car.
The company has said that they plan on implementing this new solar tech onto their V12 Vantage GT 3 and V8 Vantage GT 4 cars and should be in place by the time the Circuit of Americas race rolls around in September.
Well done, Aston Martin – a very clever idea that’ll benefit both driver and car.
Source: CarBuzz
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