The Innovators Educational Foundation (IEF) has announced the culmination of the highly anticipated Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) 2025, held July 3-5 at the National Corvette Museum (NCM) Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Ky. The 25th anniversary of this premier collegiate solar car competition showcased exceptional engineering, strategic endurance, and the future of sustainable transportation from over 30 collegiate teams across North America.
The three-day endurance event saw teams push their solar-powered vehicles to their limits on the 3.15-mile Grand Full Course. The competition highlighted not only endurance, speed, and reliability but also innovative energy management and adaptability to challenging track conditions.
The University of Illinois and Polytechnique Montreal took home the top honors in the Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV) and Multi Occupant Vehicle (MOV) classes, respectively. Notably, the University of Washington took home Rookie of the Year honors for passing scrutineering – the crucial process where the solar cars undergo rigorous inspections before being allowed to compete – in their first-ever appearance, an outstanding achievement for a first-year team. This was a record-breaking year for the event with 34 teams arriving at the track for scrutineering, the highest number ever, with several new teams participating in scrutineering for the first time.
"We are incredibly proud of all the collegiate teams that participated in the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 and would like to thank our sponsors, volunteers and of course the talented students who helped make the event possible,” said Gail Lueck, Event Director and Operations Director at IEF. “Their dedication, innovation, and perseverance truly embodied the spirit of this competition, demonstrating the capabilities of both the solar powered vehicles and tomorrow’s leaders who designed and built them. More than just a celebration of 25 years since the first FSGP, we also celebrate a record-breaking year with more teams arriving at the track for scrutineering than ever before in this experiential learning brainsport!”
See below the full list of winners from the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025:
- Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV) Class
The winners of the SOV class were determined by the car that drove the most laps while only charging from the sun once the race began. Winners included:
First Place: University of Illinois, completing an impressive 223 laps (702.5 miles)
Second Place: University of Stanford, completing 212 laps (667.8 miles)
Third Place: Florida Polytechnic University, completing 175 laps (551.25 miles)
Fastest Lap: Oliver Tumbel from the University of Florida recorded the fastest SOV lap at 4:23.170 (43.77 mph).
- Multi Occupant Vehicle (MOV) Class
The winners of the MOV class were determined by a scoring formula that includes miles driven, the number of people in the car, average speed, and the total external non-solar charging during the event. Winners included:
First Place: Polytechnique Montreal, earning a winning score of 148.4 with 222 laps
Second Place: Appalachian State, securing a score of 42.7 with 227 laps
Third Place: Georgia Institute of Technology, finishing with a score of 11.7 and 55 laps.
Fastest Lap: Eduard Podaru from Polytechnique Montreal achieved the fastest MOV lap with a time of 5:09.328 (37.2 mph).
- Special Recognition Awards
Several teams were also recognized for their outstanding efforts and achievements beyond the track:
Rookie of the Year: University of Washington
Most Improved: Florida Polytechnic University
Fastest Egress: Illinois State University
Perseverance: University of the Pacific
Aesthetics: Western Michigan University
Abe Poot Teamwork Award: Appalachian State University
Capacitance Award: University of California, Irvine
The Altair Challenge offered teams a chance to win a $10,000 grand prize and other prizes. The Altair Challenge is designed to push the analysis and optimization skills of competing teams to new heights, tasking them with the re-design of a given part using only the provided Altair tools.
Participating teams worked over three days to design the best FSGP-compliant roll cage for the provided Altair chassis. Winners included:
Grand Prize ($10,000): University of British Columbia
Second Place: University of Florida
Third Place: McMaster University
Judges Choice Lightest: Purdue University
Judges Choice Hottest: Western Ontario
Mathworks is the longest running sponsor of the IEF. This year Mathworks awarded a $500 prize to the University of Florida team for the best use of a Mathworks product by a solar car team.
American Solar Challenge | https://www.americansolarchallenge.org/
Innovators Educational Foundation | https://www.innovatorseducationalfoundation.org/
