ToyLabs' Volta Racer and Sunswift's eVe Solar Racing Cars head to the 2013 World Solar Challenge

SAN CARLOS, Calif., Sept. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The internationally recognized Sunswift solar car racing program (http://www.sunswift.com) at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia recently debuted their revolutionary new solar racer "eVe". The eVe not only inspires with its stunning design but also demonstrates long-term ecological sustainability. The students who volunteer their efforts to Sunswift created eVe in the hopes of capturing another team championship at the 2013 World Solar Challenge (WSC) – the pinnacle event for solar racing.

At this year's WSC taking place in October (http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/) teams from top universities and private institutions around the world will compete in a 3,000 km race across Australia's Outback from Darwin to Adelaide relying solely on the sun's energy to power their cars. This year, eVe races in the 'cruiser' class, a class that rewards entrants for incorporating practical motoring features into their advanced solar technology vehicles.

Sunswift has teamed with ToyLabs to impart these invaluable science lessons to school kids. The Sunswift team uses the Volta Racer (http://www.ToyLabs.com) to share their passion and to inspire future generations of scientists and engineers through a series of hands-on workshops located at the University of New South Wales Engineering School and at various location en-route to WSC. During the workshops kids get to build the Volta Racer and learn about Sunswift's innovative work on eVe. UNSW engineering student and Sunswift Project Director 'Alex To' went so far as to liken the Volta Racer to a "miniature version of the car we build. Both vehicles, in fact, use the same direct solar to power conversion methods to provide electricity to their motors. The Volta Racers allow these kids to have a practical hands-on experience building their very own electric car while learning about basic mechanical engineering, electronics and using solar as a sustainable energy application."

ToyLabs founder 'Tim Curley' is honored to lend his support to Sunswift's efforts. "ToyLabs wants to help inspire kids to become the world's next generation of scientists and engineers – just like the extremely bright students at UNSW working on eVe. The eVe team's important work on eVe is already impacting the way in which automotive designers, manufacturers and consumers think about the use of sustainable energy resources for powering vehicles. The team's use of the Volta Racer to help impart these invaluable lessons to school kids is just what we'd imagined when we developed the Volta Racer. We hope school teachers and parents alike will adopt into their own curriculums these kinds of practical hands-on learning experiences for their students and kids. If we can help teachers and parents impart these important lessons in a way that is fun and exciting – then we're doing a good thing."

About ToyLabs:
ToyLabs is changing the way young minds think about the future...today? We design and develop innovative learning experiences in science and technology for kids. Our commitment is to inspire and enrich young minds with fun-filled yet purposeful scientific "toys" that also serve as proactive tools with which educators and parents can actively engage children in the learning process.

About Sunswift:
Sunswift is Australia's premier solar car racing team from Sydney's University of New South Wales. Sunswift is a student-lead volunteer project, which comprises of students from across the spectrum of courses at UNSW, including Engineering, Business, Science and Industrial Design. Since our formation in 1995, we've been passionate about building and racing solar powered vehicles. Sunswift holds two Guinness World Records and are the 2005, 2009 and 2011 World Solar Challenge class winners.

Video with caption: "ToyLabs and The University of New South Wales Sunswift Solar Racing Team work together to inspire kids to become the world's next generation of scientists and engineers! Sunswift engineering students use ToyLabs' Volta Racer and Sunswift's eVe to provide kids with practical hands-on scientific learning experiences in mechanical engineering, electronics and the use of sustainable energy resources and applications to power cars." Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G82RuUBt1C8

Image with caption: "ToyLabs' Volta Racer." Image available at: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130919/SF81972-a

Image with caption: "Sunwift eVe Solar Car." Image available at: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130919/SF81972-b

SOURCE ToyLabs