Taking place in Topeka, Kansas, from June 27 through July 2 at Heartland Motorsports Park, this year’s Electrek Formula Sun Gran Prix puts an international group of 22+ school’s solar vehicle teams against each other in an on-track race. 

The solar cars will be on the track June 30, 10 am to 6 pm, and July 1-2, 9 am to 5 pm, completing as many laps as possible on solar power. Admission is free, and we will be there. Join us! 

EVs, solar, batteries, engineering, college teams, racing… This is what we’re about at Electrek. That’s why we’re sponsoring the event along with Blue Origin, Heartland Motor Sports, and more to come. 

But it isn’t just us that keeps a close eye on these solar racers. It is important to note that EV, battery, and solar companies, including Tesla, carefully watch these events as well. 

In fact, Tesla’s cofounder and former CTO (and possible future board member) JB Straubel participated in Stanford’s Solar Car team and noted (starting at about 11 minutes in the video below): 

Of course, Tesla and other EV automakers and solar/battery firms are still recruiting from these teams: 

Innovators Educational Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit that organizes solar car events in the United States, including the American Solar Challenge (road event) and the Formula Sun Grand Prix (track event), to provide hands-on, multi-disciplined learning opportunities for college students. The Formula Sun Grand Prix is not in any way associated or affiliated with the Formula 1 companies, FORMULA 1 racing, or the FIA Formula One World Championship.