The smell of gasoline will be missing from the National Corvette Museum’s Motorsports Park this week — though the sounds of roaring engines remain.
The Eletrek Formula Sun Grand Prix takes to the NCM track for the first time this week, featuring dozens of competition cars powered entirely by the sun.
The event brings together 32 collegiate teams from across the continent, including one from the University of Kentucky, for three days of endurance racing Tuesday through Thursday using custom-designed race cars.
Qualifiers compete in the American Solar Challenge, a 4-stage competition spanning eight days and 1,500 miles that departs July 20 from Nashville and ends in Casper, Wyoming.
Event Director Gail Lueck began as a collegiate competitor before becoming an organizer years ago. The technology has changed significantly in the last four decades since the event began, she says, and does not appear to be slowing down.
“We would compete with 320 pounds of lead-acid batteries, and now, if you look through the event program, many of these teams are on lithium-ion or lithium-polymer packs that are a fraction of that,” Lueck said. “Technology obviously continues to improve, and it's exciting to see what the future holds.
The cars can produce energy while driving and, depending on speed and conditions, can route energy directly to the engine or store it in the battery for later use.
Final preparations throughout the weekend
Teams arrived on site Friday for preparations and final checks before the event. Cars compete within single-occupant or multi-occupant categories.
Single-occupant racers aim to have the most completed laps by the end of the competition, relying on a combination of speed and efficiency.
Multi-occupant racers aim for “people miles” as teams load as many occupants as possible without over-sacrificing performance.
Each team must complete either 205 miles, 66 laps, in one day or 308 miles, 98 laps, in two consecutive days to qualify for the upcoming American Solar Challenge.
Additionally, each driver must complete 53 miles, 17 laps, to participate.
Lueck said it’s a one-of-a-kind experience for those involved, touching on everything from engineering to logistics to business and fundraising.
“This is just an incredible experiential learning platform for these teams,” she said. “It's an experience unlike what you might get in the classroom experience in college or even going off on an internship or co-op.”
She adds that the general public is still probably “a little early” when it comes to commuting in solar cars, but solar racing innovations and the experiences of students help speed up that potential.
“These students don't stay students, they graduate and they go off and work for some of these companies that are looking at hybrid technology, electric vehicle technology, and even starting to experiment with some solar integrated into that,” Lueck said. “So we'll see what the future holds.”
Where and how to watch
The competition runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on July 16 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 17 and 18. Spectators are welcome and admission is free.
Teams will be on-site until 8 p.m. the first two days to interact with guests, show off cars and answer questions.
Lueck said these evening “charging hours” are a great time to see a car’s interior and “guts” as teams flip the outer solar array to track the sun — “just don't shade their solar array while they're charging,” she joked.
“A lot of these teams have spent two years designing and building these vehicles,” she said. “They are very proud of their work, as they should be, and they are more than happy to answer questions.”
A live stream, details about teams and future events are available at AmericanSolarChallenge.org.
