The Sasol Solar Challenge is well underway, having begun in Sasolburg, until September 18, 2026.
The solar cars are lined up and ready to take off.
Day 1’s race was from Sasolburg (Boiketlong Sports Centre) to Rustenburg.
Finalists are expected to travel across multiple South African provinces from Gauteng through the North West, Northern Cape, and finishing off in the Western Cape.
Teams face a daily challenge of covering between 250 and 300 km.
Sasol said what makes the event so extraordinary isn’t just the distance that needs to be covered, but who’s behind the wheel, and who built the cars.
“Homegrown teams including South African universities and independent innovators will take on the Challenge alongside select international crews, giving the event a distinctly local feel, with a touch of international flavour. Every car on the grid must have been designed and built from the ground up by the team driving it, meaning that no two vehicles are the same. The result is that each solar car acts as a rolling engineering thesis, the physical manifestation of years of late nights, failed prototypes, and stubborn optimism distilled into a vehicle that runs on sunlight alone.”
Picture: Supplied