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Solar car team at UM reveals its new car called 'Generation'

The Solar Car team at the University of Michigan unveiled its newest car today.

The car is called “Generation” and it will represent the U of M team in The World Solar Challenge this fall.

Eric Hausman is the team’s project manager and a senior in industrial and operations engineering. He says "Generation" is the team's first car in over a decade with four wheels and it's lopsided shape should improve the car's performance along the 1,800 mile course across Australia.

"Our car is what we consider asymmetrical with the driver being on the left-hand side of the vehicle. And that gives us a significant advantage for a variety of reasons - overall it makes the vehicle more efficient."

Hausman says the team is excited to be representing the University of Michigan with this car.

“There are 22 really dedicated students on the team who take the whole summer off as well as the next semester off to race this car, to test it, to build it. We get really close - it's a great group of people. We have a lot of fun but we are also here to win.”

The U of M team came in third during the last World Solar Challenge in 2011.

-Lindsay Hall, Michigan Radio Newsroom