A team of engineers from Michigan have set a new record for the fastest solar-powered journey across the United States. The group completed the 3,000-mile trek from New York to Los Angeles in just 13 days, 15 hours and 19 minutes, using only the power of the sun.
The Cannonball Run, a decades-old cross-country challenge, has been attempted by numerous motorists over the years, but solar-powered attempts have been rare. The only previous solar-powered journey across the U.S. took place in 2023 and took 57 days to complete.
“I think already it’s definitely raised sort of good awareness for the capabilities of solar technology, like showcasing just how accessible it is,” Will Jones, one of the team members, told Straight Arrow News. “If five folks from Okemos, Michigan, can design and build a solar car and drive it across the country, it shows the potential of what can be achieved.”
Dubbed the Cannonball Sun team, the group of Michigan engineers used a vehicle named the Sun Strider. The car combines the features of an electric vehicle (EV) with an off-grid solar system. The vehicle uses a battery with about 3% of the storage capacity seen in a Tesla model.
In most EVs, that would only give a vehicle about nine miles worth of range, but the much lighter-weight Sun Strider can get 100 miles worth of range out of this battery, with a cruising speed of around 40 miles per hour. Additionally, unlike traditional electric vehicles that require stops to recharge, the Sun Strider uses its solar array to power its battery and motors on the go.
“So you’re sitting at a stoplight, and you’ll just be charging the battery,” Jones said. “Or if you’re driving down the road, the energy will flow effectively directly from the solar array into your motors and kind of convert that solar potential energy into kinetic energy to propel the vehicle down the road. So, you’re always operating on some sort of hybrid of battery and solar and as long as the sun is visible.”
The journey was not without its challenges. The group faced motor problems, flat tires and a broken charge controller along the way. However, according to the Cannonball Sun team, the warm reception it received from people across the country made the obstacles worth overcoming.
“Sometimes people would pass us, pull over, take a video of us driving by, and then pass us again and pull over again and take another video,” Danny Ezzo, another team member, said. “It was just really cool seeing people’s reactions and seeing people were really excited about the project.”
Looking ahead, the team plans to showcase the Sun Strider at car shows while they wait to see if anyone else will attempt to break their recently set record. Cannonball Sun team member Kyle Samluk said that “if someone does try to beat it, I think we might start working on a better car.”
