Following months of hard work on their solar cars, the winners of the Electrek American Solar Challenge 2026 were honored at a special awards ceremony held in Amarillo. Tesla is a long-time sponsor of the event, which is open to engineering students globally.
Student teams representing Appalachian State University and KU Leuven took first place in this year’s American Solar Challenge (ASC) which concluded on August 5 with a cross-country race to the finish line in Amarillo, Texas.
The ASC happens every year and spotlights the engineering and project design and development skills of a range of different student teams from all over the world.
The students taking part spend around two years building their solar-powered cars before eventually racing them along a 1,500-to-2,000-mile cross-country route.
Belgium’s KU Leuven team won in the Single-Occupant Vehicle (SOV) category, while Appalachian State University claimed the Multi-Occupant Vehicle (MOV) title. A total seven teams competed the entire 1,547-mile base route this year.
