After reading my post about the Urban Ambassador nomination (here), someone asked, “What about the solar car? Wasn’t that sustainability?”
Yes, the solar car was sustainability work for the future. I think I’ve had sustainability as my lifestyle for so long that I truly don’t know what is/isn’t in the sustainable category. Maybe things are just part of my life (is) or they aren’t (isn’t).
To review, I went to Iowa State University a long time ago. I was the solar car team business manager in 1992-3. When I wasn’t getting donations, I also did some assembly on the solar array for PrISUm II, also known as P2.
So Mr. TellBlast (who was the 1993 solar car team director) and I have watched the electric vehicle scene for a while. I still have GM Impact refrigerator magnets to remember that vehicle. It was beautiful, a thing to behold. Acceleration? The Impact had it in spades. Here is a photo from “I” of GAIN in a Tesla. We had a test ride in October 2014. Also a thing of beauty. I want one. Bad.
I’ve been in contact with the Team PrISUm off and on over the years. The team became office-less while we were still living in Ames. (Remember Morrill Hall in the 90’s? It was scary.) I sent our work (by that time it had become memorabilia) to their office after they had stable office space in Sweeney Hall.
I ran into the team in March 2016, which was quite fun, until we spoke later and learned that again, the team needed to move to a new work space. The car always gets stuck in ‘leftover spaces.’ Way to make the team feel important, all you university of technology leaders.
And we currently drive a hybrid Camry and love it. (However, it doesn’t work well for bee keeping.) Here is my closing shot, a memory from SunRayce 93, PrISUm II crossed the finish line first for Day 5 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. For a related look at the solar car, read this post.
