Monday, July 20, 2026
Technology

The grueling, 630-mile road race where the only fuel is sunlight

On July 19th, dozens of teams of high school students will begin a five-day, 630-mile road race from Fort Worth to Fort Stockton in Texas. But this is not your typical contest. The students design and build the cars themselves, using off-the-shelf parts and 3D printed materials. The winner is the te...

The grueling, 630-mile road race where the only fuel is sunlight
Image: The Verge
The 2018 Solar Car Challenge was the last time participants took their designs out on the open road. | Image: Lehman Marks / Solar Car Challenge

On July 19th, dozens of teams of high school students will begin a five-day, 630-mile road race from Fort Worth to Fort Stockton in Texas. But this is not your typical contest. The students design and build the cars themselves, using off-the-shelf parts and 3D printed materials. The winner is the team that accumulates the most driven miles. And the only fuel they can use to power their Frankenstein-looking vehicles comes from that mass of incandescent gas that hangs in our sky: the Sun.

This year is the 30th anniversary of the annual Solar Car Challenge, a contest that brings together high school students from around the country with the on …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Originally published at The Verge

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