Arin Waichulis

The sun has just about risen on this year’s Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP), the pre-qualifying race before the renowned American Solar Challenge. FSGP officially kicks off tomorrow morning for the teams that have passed rigorous safety and quality checks, known as “scrutineering.”

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of speaking directly with teams from around the world, including the Delft Solar Team from the Netherlands and ÉTS Éclipse from Montreal. But for my final profile, I sat down with students from a small liberal arts school just outside St. Louis, right along the Mississippi River. Principia College has a long-running solar car program, which is astonishing considering the school is in the middle of phasing out its only engineering program.

So it was no surprise that after a few minutes speaking with the team’s leadership, I realized the car might end up being the least interesting thing about them.

It’s now July, which means schools from around the world are making final preparations for the Electrek American Solar Challenge 2026, and this year is going to be an especially notable one! A record 42 teams from colleges in the US, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands are registered to compete in the Formula Sun Grand Prix pre-qualifier track event in less than two weeks.

This is a big deal for teams. Apart from FSGP being a competition in its own right, it’s the opportunity for students to prove their hand-built solar car has what it takes to hit the open road and trek 1,500+ miles across the United States for the renowned American Solar Challenge.

Here’s everything you need to know about both competitions, the teams, and the schedule.

This July, the 2026 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) and American Solar Challenge (ASC) head north to Minnesota. Meanwhile, I caught up with one of the teams making the trip, and they’ve been racing solar cars longer than almost anyone. Éclipse, out of École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) in Montreal, has been building them for over 33 years, since 1992. Hence the big 92 you’ll spot on the car.

The team’s captain, Yohann Gourmelen, sat down with me to talk about their new car (Éclipse 12), some rule changes shaking up this year’s race, and how they build nearly an entire solar car in-house.

This July, the 2026 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) and American Solar Challenge (ASC) head north to Minnesota, and one of the 46 registered teams is making the trip for the very first time. The Delft Solar Team is flying in from the Netherlands, and they aren’t exactly showing up empty-handed.

I caught up with Rosa Van Wijngaarden, who runs PR for the team, to talk about who they are, what they’re driving, and what it’s like to prep for a race on a continent the team has never set wheels on.

With a new year comes a new season of solar car racing! The official dates for the 2026 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) and the 2026 Electrek American Solar Challenge (ASC) have been released.

In addition, I’m excited to share that not only will this year’s FSGP track event be hosted at an entirely new racing complex, but event officials tell me a record 46 teams have registered to compete! This includes colleges from the US, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Today was the official start of racing at the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025! There was a tremendous energy (and heat) on the ground at NCM Motorsports Park as nearly a dozen teams took to the track. Currently, as of writing, Stanford is ranked #1 in the SOV (Single-Occupant Vehicle) class with 68 registered laps. However, the fastest lap so far belongs to UC Berkeley, which clocked a 4:45 on the 3.15-mile track. That’s an average speed of just under 40 mph on nothing but solar energy. Not bad!

The sun has set on a frantic day of scrutineering at this year’s Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP), as teams scramble to qualify for a spot on the starting line tomorrow morning. Electrek FSGP 2025 is shaping up to be one of the event’s most attended ever, thanks to a strong showing of first-time and returning schools. But that also means new and unproven vehicles on the track.

Today, I walked through a couple of bays and talked with a few of the teams able to spare a minute; almost all of them were debuting completely new cars that were years in the making. Building a solar car is no easy feat. It’s not just the engineering and technical know-how that’s often a hurdle for them; it’s more often monetary. However, one of the things that makes this event so special is the camaraderie and collaboration that happen behind the scenes.

The countdown is on for another exciting week of solar car racing! Over 30 teams from the US, Canada, and worldwide have registered their hand-designed and built solar cars to compete in the 2025 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP). What makes this year’s FSGP especially notable, aside from the impressive number of teams we expect to see, is that it marks the 25th anniversary of the track event, first held in 2000.

Coming in hot… well, as hot as these solar cars can get, upwards of 60 mph.

It’s hard to believe we’re just over a month away from this year’s Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 collegiate solar car track event! In July, some of the greatest engineering minds from universities across North America will roll into Bowling Green, Kentucky, with their respective hand-built solar-powered EVs to go head-to-head in a competition all about pushing the limits of sustainable transport. The goal? Complete as many laps as possible each race day using nothing but sunshine.

The event is open to the public and free to attend. Raycing kicks off on July 3 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT and continues through July 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT. You’re not going to want to miss this!

Big thanks to this year’s event sponsors: Velotric, NIU, Altair, Bridgestone, MathWorks, Generac, IOSiX, SunCat Solar, Tesla, and Event Partner, the National Park Service

It’s been another extremely successful year for the Electrek American Solar Challenge (ASC) and the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) pre-qualifier event! Now that racing has concluded and we’ve had time to decompress from all the solar excitement, here’s a quick recap and some highlights from the 2024 season.

The 2024 Electrek American Solar Challenge (ASC) will arrive at Scotts Bluff National Monument in western Nebraska on Friday, July 26, marking the beginning of the final stage of what I can only imagine has been a grueling yet rewarding cross-country competition.

Congratulations to #2 – Michigan, which is currently leading the Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV) class by 53 miles with a total of 1233.2 miles traveled.

In the Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) class, #55 – Poly Montreal and #828 – App State are currently neck and neck with 907 miles and 901 miles, respectively.

Over the weekend, 16 teams that qualified from the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) departed from the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, TN, for an epic 8-day 1,550+ mile trek to Casper, WY, using nothing but energy from the sun.

Now, the solar vehicles have completed the first stage of the cross-country Electrek American Solar Challenge (ASC). Here are the results and how you can track the team’s locations in real time!

Big thanks to this year’s event sponsors: Velotric, NIU, MathWorks, Generac, IOSi, SunCat Solar, and Tesla

In what can only be described as one of the most challenging years we’ve seen, teams competing in the 2024 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) found themselves navigating spotty weather, an unfamiliar track, and for some, critical mechanical issues at the eleventh hour.

The final day of the FSGP track event concluded on Thursday, July 18. Following the awards ceremony that evening, event officials announced which teams would advance to Saturday’s 1,550+ mile Electrek American Solar Challenge (ASC) cross-country main event.

Big thanks to this year’s event sponsors: Velotric, NIU, MathWorks, Generac, IOSi, SunCat Solar, and Tesla

The second day of the 2024 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) at the NCM Motorsports Park was marked by intense competition for some and a struggle to get rolling for others.

École de Technologie Supérieure (ETS) out of Montreal, which translates to Superior Technology School, continued to lead the pack on day two with 65 laps. Meanwhile, Standford, Georgia Tech, MIT, and a few others continued to be plagued with mechanical issues. They hope to have those ironed out soon for tomorrow’s last day of racing.

Big thanks to this year’s event sponsors: Velotric, NIU, MathWorks, Generac, IOSi, SunCat Solar, and Tesla

After a challenging weekend and a half of “scrutineering,” teams are now beginning to tighten the last bolts ahead of the official start of the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2024. The event will kick off tomorrow, July 16, at 10 am CT at NCM Motorsports Park.

FSGP is open to the public and completely free (you’ll be asked to sign a waiver at most); however, if you’re unable to attend, there are still a few ways you can follow along on the fun.

The countdown is on for this year’s Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) collegiate solar car track event, swiftly followed by the Electrek American Solar Challenge cross-country race. In just one week, teams from universities worldwide will put rubber to track at NCM Motorsports Park, competing to complete as many laps as possible on nothing but solar energy.

The event is open to the public and free to attend! It kicks off on July 16 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and goes through July 17-18 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Update 7/9/24: A live stream of the track will be available here come race day.