KU Leuven Solar Team Makes History with US Race Win

The Innoptus Solar Team from KU Leuven has won the Electrek American Solar Challenge in the United States, becoming the first European team ever to claim victory in the prestigious eight-day solar car competition. The Belgian engineering students covered more than 4,000 kilometers in their solar-powered vehicle, the Infinite Apollo, racing from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Amarillo, Texas.

A Historic First

The win marks a milestone in the event’s history, which dates back to 1990. VRT NWS reported that this was the team’s first-ever participation in an American solar car competition, making the achievement all the more remarkable. The team started third after the qualifying round at Brainerd International Raceway, behind Canada’s ETS and the Netherlands’ TU Delft, but seized the lead on day five and never looked back.

“We won the American Solar Challenge as the first European team ever. It’s our first time participating. The whole team is incredibly happy,” said Robbe Willaert, an electronic engineer on the team. “We’re going to celebrate this properly. It’s really one for the history books.”

The Race Across America

The eight-day journey took the team along the Mississippi River, the Great River Road, and the legendary Route 66, crossing eight US states. According to HLN, the team finished with a commanding lead over their Dutch rivals from TU Delft, covering 2,671.2 official miles compared to Delft’s 2,535.5 miles.

The race conditions proved grueling. Extreme heat and high humidity pushed both drivers and support staff to their limits, with the team camping in tents every night along the route. “Everyone struggled a lot with this heat, the drivers but everyone on the team too,” team member Anthony Vanden Abeele told RTBF. “We spent days sleeping under tents in extreme humidity. But if I look at the whole journey we made, 100% I would do it again.”

Despite the challenging conditions, the Infinite Apollo performed flawlessly. “We had no breakdowns along the way, the car ran the whole race without problems and we won hands down,” said Wout Maes, a team member, as quoted by RTL.

A Team with a Winning Pedigree

The Innoptus Solar Team, comprising 33 engineering students from KU Leuven, is no stranger to success. The team previously won the World Solar Challenge in Australia twice (2019 and 2023), the European Championship at the Zolder circuit, and races in Chile and South Africa. This latest victory adds North America to their list of conquered continents.

The team’s car, the Infinite Apollo, was extensively modified for the American race. As The Brussels Times reported, the students fitted a roll cage to meet stricter US safety regulations, developed a new solar panel with more efficient and lighter solar cells in partnership with Chinese manufacturer LONGi, and improved the battery cooling system.

Significance for Sustainable Transport

The victory underscores Belgian engineering excellence in sustainable transportation and highlights the potential of solar-powered vehicles. The American Solar Challenge official results show KU Leuven’s dominance, with the team completing the base route at an average speed of 43.4 mph and covering significantly more loop miles than any competitor.

For the students, the win represents the culmination of a year of intensive preparation. As HLN reported on day six, the team had built a lead through strategic racing and penalty management, with energy engineer Lukas Louwagie noting that “the Delft team got more penalties than us. Our lead was extended as a result.”

What’s Next

With the American Solar Challenge now conquered, the team’s focus will likely shift to defending their world championship title in Australia. The Innoptus Solar Team, which describes its mission as “Innovate Today, Inspire Tomorrow,” continues to demonstrate that student-led engineering can push the boundaries of what’s possible in sustainable transportation.

As team manager Marie-Johanna Schillemans put it: “Today was a bit more boring because we didn’t want to take risks, but now it’s party time.”