Iron Lions prepare for 720-mile solar car challenge through Texas
Article excerpt
In less than a month, Greenville High School’s Iron Lions solar car team will be heading to Fort Worth to compete in this year’s Solar Car Challenge Cross Texas. While many students have been enjoying some time off this summer, the Iron Lions have spent many days at their shop working on and testing their competition car, Aurora, which made its debut at last September’s Bridgestone World Solar ...
In less than a month, Greenville High School’s Iron Lions solar car team will be heading to Fort Worth to compete in this year’s Solar Car Challenge Cross Texas.
While many students have been enjoying some time off this summer, the Iron Lions have spent many days at their shop working on and testing their competition car, Aurora, which made its debut at last September’s Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia.
Even though Aurora only ended up completing about 500 miles out of the total 2,000 miles through the Outback, the team is using what they learned through the experience as they prepare for their upcoming competition.
Solar Car Challenge Cross Texas will greet teams at Texas Motor Speedway on July 16, where judges will put the teams through an intensive three-day “scrutineering” process to make sure that each car meets standards for structural integrity, braking, electrical and battery requirements, the car’s ability to run for an extended period of time and other criteria.
Scrutineering also includes student presentations along with question-and-answer sessions between judges and team members.
After scrutineering, Aurora will begin racing on July 19 in the competition’s advanced division. This year’s 720-mile route will go from Fort Worth to Palestine to Round Rock to Fredericksburg to San Angelo before finishing in Fort Stockton.
In the advanced division, the Iron Lions will be racing against five other teams, including last year’s runner-up in the division, Poly Solar Car from Polytechnic School in Pasadena, California.
The Iron Lions didn’t compete in the solar car challenge in Texas last year as they were preparing for the race in Australia. However, the Iron Lions came in second in 2024 in both the advanced and advanced classic divisions and first place in 2023 in the advanced division.