Sunswift currently holds the world land speed record for a solar vehicle, the Guinness World Record for the world’s fastest solar-powered vehicle, and has won its class in the World Solar Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide for the last two years.

This year, they are entering a new class: a two doored vehicle dubbed eVe that looks more like a car than a spaceship, with a sleek carbon-fibre body and sleek body and a sweeping profile.

“We’ve reached a fork in the road,” says Sam Patterson, who has worked on the last four Sunswift challenges and has been project director for this and last year. “We are now looking at the future of motoring.”

Patterson describes eVe as essentially an electric vehicle, with range extension provided by solar power – or an electric solar hybrid.

“This is a step change from our perspective. It’s a new direction and a new challenge. And it’s a new image for solar vehicles. Everyone gets electric vehicles now, this is a solar range-extended electric vehicle.”