Endeavour was on display at Cornwall College’s Sustainability Fair, held at Newquay airport yesterday. The event included the running of the regionalGreenpower races, and attracted around 800 schoolchildren.

It was great to show off our car to so many people and to answer the many interesting questions asked by the children. We also had the chance to demonstrate Endeavour in action in the truly glorious conditions.

Additionally this was the first chance to try our new trailer, which has been very generously purchased for us by the Engineering Department. This allows our members to transport the car with their standard driving license. Following our trip it appears to be perfect for our needs and will make future testing and display visits much easier.

CUER displayed at the Greenfleet Arrive’n’Driveday at Rockingham today – an event which gives visitors the opportunity to test-drive on track the latest eco-friendly road cars, and in the process try to get as good an “MPG” score as possible.

During the lunchtime break we were able to showcase Endeavour – a car which certainly has an efficiency to trump them all!  We completed six laps of the Rockingham Oval in total, three of which were alongside Durham University’s very fine solar car which was also displaying at the event. Endeavour ran very well with an average speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) and a top speed of 84.2 km/h (52.3mph), and it was great to see her back in action in her first full-speed test since she returned from Australia.

In addition we were able to test out our new battery pack, supplied by LiFeBATT, which worked flawlessly and looks very promising for the future.  It was also great to meet the team from Durham University for the first time, and to have a closer look at their car.  Hopefully we’ll be meeting them a lot more

After almost four months in Australia, Endeavour has been successfully shipped back to the UK. After arriving in late December Endeavour was initially stored in a barn on a farm but it is now back in Cambrudge. With the help of Cambridge Precision (and a large crane!) CUER have moved both Endeavour and Affinity to a new home provided by the engineering department. This year’s team have already started working to get both cars fixed and running as smoothly as possible. CUER will also be doing tests on Endeavour to add to the knowledge we will need to build our car for the Global Green Challenge 2011.

The CUER team has made it to Adelaide with Endeavour, having crossed this vast continent in six and a half days. Despite being plagued with battery problems, Endeavour managed to achieve 14th place out of 26 cars in the Challenge Class. She crossed Australia doing 1616km under solar power, more than half the race distance. The full results can be seen here.

The week of racing has been a tremendous experience for the CUER team. We have crossed some of the most unforgiving landscapes in the world, whilst battling with a failing battery pack that continually threatened Endeavour’s ability to drive at all. Thanks to the dedicated hard work of the team and the huge support we have received from all our sponsors, advisors and fans across the world, Endeavour rode into Adelaide on Saturday at 13:20 and crossed the finish line under solar power.

For a full account of the week’s racing, including daily race reports and photos, check out thenewsletter. Having packed Endeavour into her sea freight container, we’re now off for some rest and relaxation in the southern hemisphere!

After a highly successful qualifying day yesterday at Hidden Valley Raceway the team were given their start position on the grid, and set off to give Endeavour a final once over before taking her down to State Square ready for the start. Endeavour did not quite match up to the lap times of the likes of Nuon and Aurora, clocking 2min 2secs and under 2 minutes respectively, but she was comfortably inside the top ten competitors – the position we are aiming for in the race which we are very hopeful of achieving.

Wish us luck in the Global Green Challenge as we race across an entire continent!

Since the CUER team arrived in Darwin three weeks ago, we have been overwhelmed by the welcome we have received from Darwin residents and businesses alike. On Thursday evening we were delighted to be invited to a reception hosted in our honour by the Royal Commonwealth Society at the Darwin Sailing Club. The fantastic evening was enjoyed by the team, our supporters, sponsors and local media.

We have also received great support from our local Darwin sponsors. BOC Gas & Gear, Winnellie, have provided us with invaluable workshop and office space, as well as making sure we never went hungry through a string of truly impressive Aussie barbecues. Furthermore the CUER business team have had their basic needs looked after by The Coffee Club on Mitchell Street and Global Gossip.

Following our recent press coverage in NT News, local residents will have the opportunity to see Endeavour and meet the team at a FREE BBQ tomorrow, Monday 19th October, at BOC Gas & Gear, Winnellie Road, (map) from 10:30 – 11:30am. We hope to see you there!

Gleaming with a fresh coat of paint, Endeavour was put through further road tests today, the first since her shell and solar array arrived on Friday last week. Results of the tests were very encouraging and Kento, a CUER driver, appeared to be coping well with 46°C temperatures inside the cockpit. The high temperatures in Darwin had caused some unexpected problems, with the carbon fibre shell deforming slightly in the heat. Some hard work from the composites team has put this right, however, and Endeavour is now ready for two days of long-distance tests in the next two days.

We also had a great turnout from local Darwin press today, with the CUER team looking very smart for interviews in our brand new race tops. Look out for appearances on TV and radio, as well as in local newspapers over the coming days. Lots of photos from today of course on our Facebook fan page.

CUER’s race team took Endeavour out for her first Australian test drive today. Having been inspected and given a temporary license, Endeavour will be undergoing a series of road tests over the next few weeks in order to ensure best possible performance during the Global Green Challenge, now only three weeks away. Today’s tests were done using battery power, as Endeavour’s shell is waiting to be released from customs, but the day was nonetheless very useful in revealing potential problems. Endeavour ran very well, covering more ground than ever before, and the day was illuminating for the drivers and the technical team!

As usual lots of photos of the day can be found on our blog and on our Facebook fan page.

After a short break to see some of Australia’s east coast and get some outback camping experience (see our blog, CUER Sunspot) CUER’s Global Green Challenge race team arrived in Darwin on Tuesday. We received a wonderfully warm welcome at BOC in Winnellie, where we are now set up with a beautifully organised workshop and office space. The last two days have been spent unpacking our air freight crate, which made it to the other side of the world completely unscathed – huge thanks to Virgin Atlantic! – and putting Endeavour back together. She’s now ready to go again and we’re just waiting for the car’s shell to arrive on a ship at Darwin port, but in the meantime the team has a busy schedule of tests using the rolling chassis and electrical systems. Plenty of time, we hope, to get used to the heat and humidity – we’re just 12° south of the equator here and it’s a sticky 35°C!