American Solar Challenge makes its way into Arco

At Butte High School in Arco, school is out for the summer. But today there are dozens of students on campus, not pirates, but members of several universities from around the globe. 12 teams are racing nearly 2,000 miles, driven by only two things: competition and sunlight.

These teams had stopped to rest and refuel for the day, on their trip to Oregon. Traveling on the Oregon Trail, starting in Omaha and ending in Bend, OR, traveling only by solar-powered vehicles.

As part of this race, teams construct their cars for performance and not much else, Chaewoo Lim, the University of Michigan crew chief explained to me.

“This race is all about endurance. It’s about efficiency, so these cars are not built for straight line speed. The top speed of this car is 80 mph which is pretty fast, but don’t like to ride that high. We like to travel around highway speeds, so around 50-60 mph,” Lim said. “We make sure that this car is capable of getting to the finish line in the shortest amount of time possible.”

But it’s a long race, 10 days from Omaha to Bend. And for those behind the wheel, it’s a very special and often uncomfortable experience.

Sammiul Bashar, part of the Western Sydney University team, has been in the “hot seat” before.

“In short, it’s just so connected. There’s no electronic aid, there’s no soft suspension, there’s no seat even. The driver is just sitting on the chastity of the car,” Bashar said. “You feel every little bump, every little gust of wind. And you are just sweating. It gets up to around 130 degrees in there. So it’s really challenging, but it’s a really great experience.”

While this project seems like something only engineering students would be involved with, Lim told me that’s not the case with Michigan’s squad.

“People on this team, we generally come from the whole university, not just engineers. We have math majors, physics majors, we have English majors, business majors, all various kinds of majors from all across the school working on this project.”

It is, after all, a race. But to some the experience is just as valuable as getting to Bend first, even for those who traveled the world to get here.

“Win or lose, we’ve had a fantastic time,” Bashar told me. “Yeah it’s a major life experience either way. It’s really fantastic.”