World record for a Belgian solar car

A team of engineering students from KU Leuven has just set the record for the longest distance covered by a solar car in 12 hours on the test track in Lommel (Province of Limburg). The old record was held by the team from the Dutch University of Delft, which travelled 924 km in 2020.

Although they have beaten the previous record by 127 km, the Belgian team believes that their car, named "BluePoint Atlas", could have managed a few more kilometres. Indeed, their performance would have been even better if the sky had not become cloudier at times, and especially if their "racing car" had not suffered a flat tyre during the race.

The team from KU Leuven is already looking forward to the Sasol Solar Challenge, which will take place from 9 to 16 September in South Africa. The Belgians will take part for the first time and will challenge teams of students from all over the world. Over eight days, the competitors will have to cover the greatest possible distance using solar energy alone. It is a very long event that will require excellent technical preparation of the solar car and the right choices in terms of race strategy.

Let's pay tribute to the technological prowess of these Belgian engineers who are contributing to the technological advances necessary for the expected commercialisation of the first solar car in the near future.