FollowSolar car racing may not be as popular as the Indy 500 but the participants and event goers have increased significantly since its initial debut in 1985. The Tour de Sol, which served as the first race, began in Switzerland and lasted 5 days. There were 72 cars that participated; unfortunately 20 of them didn’t make it to the finish line. By 1990 the event expanded and included separate events, one of which involved a course over Switzerland’s frozen lakes and mountain passes.
Now, Universities and even some high schools participate in the event from the U.S. to Europe to Australia. The universities use the opportunity to develop student’s engineering and technological skills. Universities from North America submit their designs in hopes of being admitted into the American Solar Challenge. The original race (called Sunrayce USA) was sponsored by General Motors in 1990 and started at Disney World and surprisingly enough, ended at the GM technical center in Michigan. The route changes each year; most recently the 1,100 mile course started in Tulsa OK and ended in Naperville, IL.
