The Innovators Educational Foundation (IEF) announced the winners of the 2026 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP), which concluded July 23 at Brainerd International Raceway after three days of on-track competition. The event crowned champions across two vehicle classes and set the field of qualifiers bound for the Electrek American Solar Challenge (ASC), a multi-day, cross-country event that began July 25.
Held for the first time at Brainerd International Raceway, the 2026 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix drew one of the largest and most international fields in program history, with collegiate engineering teams from across the United States competing alongside entries from Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands, organization officials stated in a press release. Over three days, cars and drivers pushed to complete as many laps as possible on the closed course—a test of engineering endurance in which every vehicle represents thousands of hours of student design, manufacturing and testing.
Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) Class
The Multi-Occupant Vehicle class challenges teams to build practical, road-ready solar vehicles judged on a balance of speed, efficiency, payload and passenger capacity.
- 1st Place: Georgia Tech (Solar Racing)
- 2nd Place: Appalachian State University (Team Sunergy)
- 3rd Place: Polytechnique Montréal (Esteban)
- Fastest Lap: Iowa State University – 52.1 mph
Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) Class
The Single-Occupant Vehicle class rewards pure efficiency, with teams engineering the leanest, most aerodynamic solar vehicles possible.
- 1st Place: École de Technologie Supérieure (Eclipse)
- 2nd Place: Delft University of Technology (Delft Solar Team)
- 3rd Place: KU Leuven (Innoptus)
- Fastest Lap: Delft University of Technology – 58.1 mph
Siemens Challenge
The Siemens Challenge, presented by Siemens, is a $10,000 design competition recognizing excellence in battery enclosure engineering. Entries are judged on keeping the battery enclosure within a safe operating temperature, followed by the lowest enclosure volume and lowest mass.
- 1st Place: University of California, Berkeley
- 2nd Place: University of Florida
- 3rd Place: University of Minnesota
- Coolest Design: École de Technologie Supérieure
“Watching a record 39 teams come to Brainerd and 30 teams take the track was incredible,” said Gail Lueck, event director and operations director, Innovators Educational Foundation. “With 19 teams qualified for the Electrek American Solar Challenge, these teams now get to prove what their solar car can do on the open road. Regardless of whether a team finished on the podium or spent the week working through technical issues at the track, these students benefit greatly from this experimental learning, preparing them for their future careers across a range of disciplines and making them an asset to many of our sponsors who came out to meet and recruit these bright young minds.”