About half of human energy is used for transportation and most vehicles still use gasoline and diesel. To achieve complete carbon reduction, it is necessary to electrify vehicles and use green energy as a power source. However, the biggest concern of consumers about electric vehicles is the issue of battery life. Even though the Tesla Model 3 and Model X both claim a cruising range of 579.3 kilometers, many people still fear that an electric car will run out of electricity halfway through a trip.
In order to dipel this image of battery life, a research team at the University of Newcastle, Australia, launched the "Charge Around Australia" project, intending to use 18 printed solar cells, each 18 meters long to charge a Tesla electric vehicle. The car will circle around Australia and the total trip is expected to reach 15,100 kilometers.
The production equipment used for printing solar cells is a printer adapted from printing wine bottle labels. The substrate for printing solar cells is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is fsoft, flexible and lightweight, so it can be rolled up and stored in the car and then unfolded when it needs to be charged. The manufacturing cost is about 10 US dollars per square meter. The research team hopes that, through such a plan, Australians can relieve their range anxiety about electric vehicles.
The team is expected to set off in September and the entire trip is expected to take 84 days. It will stop at 70 schools to allow students to experience possible future modes of transportation and possible solutions to the problem of the greenhouse effect.
（Image：Charge Around Australia）
