College students trade horsepower for solar-power in Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) -At the NCM Motorsports Park, over 30 college teams from across the U.S. are taking to the track this week for the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix.

The unique event sees students engineer their way to the finish line with scratch-built, solar-powered vehicles.

“We put on this event for the exponential learning experience for these student teams to get out of the classroom mindset, out of the textbook problems, and really get hands-on engineering experience in this multi-disciplined sport,” said event director, Gail Lueck.

It’s a test of innovation, teamwork, and renewable energy as students work to make their cars energy efficient, while taking into consideration other engineering factors such as weight distribution, battery management, and safety.

“Before the cars can get on the track, they’re over in our dynamics area. They’re going through the brake test, figure 8, etc. We’d rather they prove themselves over there before they get on the track with the Air Solar Car teams,” Lueck explained.

The single occupant winner is determined by who can drive the most laps with the sun powering their vehicle.

“It’s really an endurance event, so reliability is key. For many of them, it’s been about a two-year design-build process to get to this point, and now we’ll put them on the track and see how they do,” said Lueck.

The Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix will continue at the NCM Motorsports Park through Saturday, July 5, and is free to the public.

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