Under partly cloudy skies on a recent Saturday afternoon, more than two dozen solar-powered vehicles competing in the annual Electrek American Solar Challenge cruised to the finish line at the National Historical Trails Interpretive Center in Casper.

The collegiate engineering teams from across the U.S. and Canada battled cloudy conditions, rain and myriad technical challenges along the week-long, 1,550-mile route from Nashville, Tennessee to central Wyoming.

The Polytechnique Montréal solar car team gathers near the Electrek American Solar Challenge finish line at the National Historical Trails Interpretive Center July 27, 2024. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)

Dustin Bleizeffer covers energy and climate at WyoFile. He has worked as a coal miner, an oilfield mechanic, and for more than 25 years as a statewide reporter and editor primarily covering the energy...

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  1. I saw them in Casper in 2018. They left Casper to complete their cross-country trip. Casper was not their final destination that year. Amazing young people they are!!

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  2. It wasn’t well publicized because organizers were afraid if it were, the Wyoming Legislature would pass a law against it coming through Wyoming. They don’t need that solar stuff here, lol

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  3. We passed the Purdue University team on the Glenrock Highway around 2:30 p.m. I had to do a deep Google search to find any info on this and was surprised to see that the race ended in Casper. It seems odd that the City of Casper didn’t promote this. Also, I saw no mention in the State or local media until after the fact.

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  4. I would like to see a lot more information about this. For me this kind of competition is more interesting and exciting than intercollegiate sports. I was there and had fun conversations with earnest, intelligent students. It was not well attended by Casper spectators.

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  5. Interesting topic – would have loved to read more about the challenges they faced, how they handled them, and some of their thoughts on how to improve their vehicles.

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