Most episodes, when I get time to listen in the afternoons, are now closer to 15 minutes. Unfortunately, over the last few months #2 is no longer happening. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.I originally started listening to this podcast for two reasons 1) to get a daily California news compliment to my national news intake and 2) ingest this in a quick format (most episodes were shorter than 7 minutes). This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. Next year, they're aiming to enter the World Solar Challenge in Australia with a brand-new car. MONAHAN: The Iron Lions were declared the winners in their division, marking their seventh solar car national championship. GONZALEZ: We're all cooperating to champion for something greater than ourselves - something that, as teenagers, we - you know, some people might say we shouldn't be meddling in, but here we are. The team is sad but proud of what they've accomplished. MONAHAN: The third day ended up being the last as the competition was abruptly canceled due to a COVID outbreak. SEBASTIAN GONZALEZ: I'll tell you, when we get out of the car, and we feel the first breeze from outside, it feels like it's cold, and you're in the AC from how hot you get in there. Seventeen-year-old Sebastian Gonzalez is one of the drivers. The drivers wear ice vests and keep a CamelBak full of icy water to stay hydrated. MONAHAN: Outside, it was about 110 degrees, but inside the car, the kids said their thermometer showed up to 130 degrees. ![]() Each time, the kids repaired the vehicle on the side of the road and just kept on moving.ĮSCOBAR: Everything just fell apart on us, and we were like, well, that's just solar car racing at the end of the day. And then the roof started coming off the car. MONAHAN: On the second day, though, it broke an axle. On the first day of the challenge, it broke a speed record going over 70 mph.ĮSCOBAR: It was just really fun, and the scenery was beautiful. It's sleek, white, made of carbon fiber - it has almost 500 solar cells that the students soldered piece by piece. The Iron Lions are Solar Car Challenge national champions, and they've been perfecting their car, Invictus, for four years. MONAHAN: The Greenville Iron Lions, however, stayed in.ĪNIKA ESCOBAR: So the heat doesn't really faze us much because we - we're from East Texas. The car and the kids weren't prepared for the temperatures. After preparations and safety tests in Texas, the Palo Alto team decided to pull out. This year, though, it's also about who can handle the heat. It's about innovation and whose car can drive the farthest. MONAHAN: The Beast runs best at about 20 to 30 mph, but the Solar Car Challenge is not a race. JAMBON: The back was just - we just yoinked half of a motorcycle and stuck it on the back. The car has an open metal frame with three wheels on an ATV suspension. MONAHAN: Sixteen-year-old Alice Jambon is the project's build lead. And then they heard about this challenge and learned how to be engineers.ĪLICE JAMBON: We learned welding. MONAHAN: A year ago, none of these kids had done anything like this. ![]() KATHERINE MONAHAN, BYLINE: Meet the Palo Alto High School solar car team, a dozen teenagers working on the car they call The Beast. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Let's test the brakes. Member station KQED's Katherine Monahan caught up with contestants and reports they faced a lot of challenges. Last week, six teams attempted a drive starting in Texas. A few decades back, a high school physics teacher in Texas observed that his kids weren't all that engaged, so he invented the Solar Car Challenge, an event where high school students build vehicles fueled by the sun and drive them long distances.
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