American Solar Challenge
30 July - 6 August
The 2016 American Solar Challenge is an 8 day, 1800 mile road race. The course starts in Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Brecksville, OH and ends in Wind Cave National Park in Hot Springs, SD. Along the way, Solar Cars will race through Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska, stopping at 9 National Parks along the way as part of the National Parks Services' Centennial Celebration.
The University of Minnesota is one of only two teams to build and race in a multi-person car, so we will be the only competitors at the American Solar Challenge with this type of design. We are participating in order to show everyone who follows this event that Solar Cars don't have to be uncomfortable looking, gawk worthy machines, but that they are also moving towards being practical and are likely the future of automotive engineering, though, admittedly, the fact that they are gawk worthy is what appeals them to some people.
The Locations
30 July Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
31 July George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
1 August Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site
2 August Wilson's Creek National Battlefield
3 August Brown V Board of Education National Historic Site
4 August Homestead National Monument of America
5 August Scotts Bluff National Monument
6 August Wind Cave National Park
The Car
Eos is the only cruiser class car in the American Solar Challenge this year. As such, we are significantly heavier and less aerodynamic than the other teams but we are also the first North American team to start building solar cars that could hold multiple people and their things.
