Solis finishes 18th of 26 Challengers after six days in Australia

Romania Insider looks back at the Solis team's six days in the Australian desert, from north to south, with the solar vehicle Hyperion at the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2025. The route ran 3,020 km from Darwin to Adelaide, and the magazine calls the race, which measured the efficiency of each vehicle, an ideal testing ground for the Romanian prototype.

“The battery is 3 kW, half the capacity of last year. We had 6 square meters of solar panels. The car’s range in zero-sun conditions is up to 300 km.”

Tudor Băldean, electrical department coordinator

The vehicle weighs 270 kg with its driver and was run by a team of 30 split into departments. Quoting Tudor Băldean via G4Media, the article explains the limits: a 3 kWh battery, half the capacity of the year before, 6 square metres of solar panels and a range of up to 300 km with no sun at all. Băldean adds that aerodynamics and stability matter a great deal, and that the driver has to sit in high heat.

Hyperion averaged 65 to 70 km/h. The driver was escorted by ordinary vehicles, teammates and organisers, and Solis placed 18th of 26 in the Challenger class. Băldean also stresses road safety, because Australia is home to many animals that are not friendly to people. The article embeds a YouTube post from the team and notes that Solis has built solar vehicles since 2018.