Students from the University of Michigan are the surprise winners of this year’s American Solar Challenge, a biannual motor race in which groups build and race cars that rely solely on sunlight for fuel.
The cross-country race runs along old Route 66 from Chicago, Illinois, to Claremont, California. M-Pulse, the Michigan team’s solar car, was nearly wrecked in a pre-race crash. But it crossed the finish line a full hour and 20 minutes ahead of the previous champions, the University of Missouri-Rolla, and set a new record time and speed for the event. M-Pulse averaged 40 miles per hour over the 2247-mile course.
“It’s hard to believe this fantastic finish, considering the position we were in just four weeks ago,” says Nader Shwayhat, an engineering student who helped lead the team that built M-Pulse.
The team plans to take on international competitors at the World Solar Challenge in Australia this November.
