Brothers from Kelso catch rays in solar car

Scott and Neal Essner of Kelso, Mo., are more driven on sunny days thanks to the University of Missouri-Rolla solar car.

Powered by 800 solar cells, the three-wheeled, low-to-the-ground car can travel along at an average speed of 40 mph and top out at about twice that speed.

There's no need to gas up.

"It sure beats unleaded," Scott Essner said.

But it can't run too long without sunshine. "We can run 25 miles per hour for two hours on batteries," he said.

Scott Essner and his brother are mechanical engineering students at the University of Missouri-Rolla and among about 20 students with varying majors at the school who are building a new solar car, which they plan to enter this summer in a national solar car race. The race from Chicago to Los Angeles is held every two years. Teams from colleges and technical schools construct and race the vehicles.

Teams depend on school funding and private donations to build and race the cars.

Pulled to university

The Essners were among five team members who displayed the older-model solar car, which took second in the same 2,200-mile race in 2001, in front of Rhodes Hall of Science at Southeast Missouri State University on Wednesday. They hauled it to the university in a trailer pulled by a gasoline-powered vehicle. A congested parking lot and pedestrian traffic kept the team from taking it for a spin.

Scott Essner said the new car is similar to the 2001 model that features an aluminum frame, stick steering and a Styrofoam and Kevlar-based covering with a cockpit. There's no passenger room. The driver lies on his back on a cushion with his feet reaching to the brake pedal and another pedal that controls acceleration. His head, resting on a cushion, is slightly elevated. The driver wears a helmet for safety and views the road through the cockpit window.

"Your head is up in the bubble. It's really not bad," said Scott Essner, who admits the vehicle gets a lot of second looks from motorists when it's rolling down the highway as it did on old Route 66 in the 2001 race.

Scott Essner was one of several students who took turns driving the car in that race. Rules allowed a maximum speed of 65 mph. The journey took the team eight days.

The vehicle, valued at $80,000, was designed strictly for racing. "It's not built for comfort," said Scott Essner, adding that no one taller than 6 feet, 1 inch could fit inside.

It also can get a little warm inside, with a temperature about 5 to 10 degrees above outside conditions, he said. Drivers are required to carry a liter of water with them during the Chicago-to-Los-Angeles race.

The car runs on solar power, which charges 600 lithium batteries, each about the size of a finger. The batteries power a motor that turns the rear wheel through a drive train and moves the car. There are no gears to worry about. Telemetry systems provide team members in accompanying vans with constant data on the car's operations.

The car weighs 822 pounds with a 176-pound driver, the minimum weight of a driver allowed in the cross-country race. With less weight, the vehicle moves faster.

Neal Essner, a freshman at Rolla, said he couldn't resist the chance to join the solar car team. "It sounded like fun," he said.

Neal Essner said beneath the fun, there's engineering principles to consider. "It's a real good place to get hands-on experience," he said.

The Essners said the custom car is small, but safe. "I will not burn to death in a Styrofoam car," Scott Essner said.

Parked on the university lawn, the car attracted the attention of students and the general public.

Warren Jordan from Patton, Mo., drove to the university just to see the solar car. The World War II veteran couldn't resist squeezing his long-legged frame into the car and getting a feel of the controls. Said Jordan, "It would be fun to have something like that."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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