Team Sonnenwagen Aachen Secures 2nd and 3rd Place at 24-Hour Solar Race

24 hours, 50 students, 2 solar cars - Team Sonnenwagen Aachen participated in the European Championship for solar cars from September 21 to 22, and both of their entries reached the podium, securing 2nd and 3rd place. Only the current world champion, Innoptus from Belgium, was faster.

The iLumen European Solar Challenge brings together student teams from across Europe to demonstrate that it is already technically possible to power a car solely with solar energy. What makes this competition unique is that it is a 24-hour race, meaning the cars don’t get any solar energy during the night. As a result, batteries can be charged up to three times. However, Team Sonnenwagen was the only team that needed to charge its newest solar car only once, making it by far the most efficient vehicle in the race.

Completing the race without any technical issues is not guaranteed, but both of Sonnenwagen’s entries were able to follow their race strategies as planned, with no unscheduled stops.

The goal of these races and of the team is to push their own developments to the limit in this extreme test, making them more efficient and thereby advancing the future of mobility.

At the last World Solar Challenge in 2023, a documentary about the team was filmed in Australia, focusing on future mobility and featuring interviews with science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar and neuroscientist Dr. Maren Urner.

Now the team is preparing to build its fifth solar car, with plans to participate in the next World Solar Challenge in Australia in 2025.

The mentioned documentary is available on YouTube: (838) SONNENWAGEN - Future Mobility | Ein Dokumentarfilm über das deutsche Team in Australien - YouTube