Volkswagen of America has announced it will sponsor two of the most prestigious universities and their entries into the 2011 World Solar Challenge. A donation of $50,000 will be made to both Standford University and University of California, Berkeley. The funds will cover the designing and building of school’s solar vehicles as well as the entry fees for the competition taking place in Darwin, Australia. Held on a 1,864 mile course that weaves through hilly city toward Adelaide.
“This has been an excellent opportunity to reiterate our commitment to sustainable mobility. It’s important to promote automotive programs at world-class universities like Stanford University and UC Berkeley and get the student community excited about automobiles. This is important for the continued success of our long term relationships and collaborations with such universities.” said Dr. Peter Oel, Director of the Volkswagen AG Electronics Research Lab (ERL). The donation to the projects could potentially help VW develop further alternative technologies for their vehicles. Composed of more than 50 students is CalSol, the UC Berkeley Solar Vehicle Team. 22 students make up Stanford’s team, otherwise known as The Stanford Solar Car Project which is entirely student run.
Source: Volkswagen
