K-State started its Solar Car program in 1995, after the '95 Sunrayce came through Manhattan. Several students saw the event and decided to start their own project. While this started with just a small group of friends, the team has now grown to over 35 members who spend in excess of 300 hours a week working on the next Solar Car.

Solution

The first Solar Car built by the team was Solution, which ran in the 1997 Sunrayce. The team finished 24th out of 36 competitors, which is pretty good for a rookie team. Although the array is no longer operational, the car still runs well and we enjoy taking it out for the yearly homecoming parade.

Apollo

The second Solar Car we built was Apollo, which has raced in several events. It started in the 1999 Sunrayce, which was from Washington D.C. to Orlando, Florida. During this race Apollo was involved in a collision with another automobile when a driver turned in front of it without looking first. Luckily, nobody was injured and the car ended up taking 9th place.

After the 1999 Sunrayce, Apollo went on to race in the 2000, 2002, and 2004 Formula Sun Grand Prix. In the 2000 race, one of the hub mounts came loose and the wheel fell off, causing the car to skid on its fairing for quite a distance. A tire blew in the 2002 race, which made the driver loose control and hit a wall of safety tires at a low speed. In 2004, a weld on the motor mount broke and caused the car to completely loose its motor and right-rear wheel. Luckily, nobody was hurt in any of these accidents, but we have long since regarded Apollo as a cursed car. It has yet to make it through a single race without crashing at some point.

CATalyst

CATalyst was the third car built at KSU. It initially raced in the 2001 American Solar Challenge, where it took fifth place out of 30 competitors. We have gone on to race CATalyst in four other races, and it has always done well.

Paragon

Paragon is forth and most recent car built by the team. Paragon competed in the 2005 NASC from Austin, Tx to Calgary, Ca. The race was 2500 miles and the car finished 14th.

Solar Car Race Results