Sunrayce 99 was an intercollegiate solar car race sponsored by

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

, EDS, and the

US Department of Energy US or Us most often refers to: * Us (pronoun), ''Us'' (pronoun), the objective case of the English first-person plural pronoun ''we'' * US, an abbreviation for the United States US, U.S., Us, us, or u.s. may also refer to: Arts and entertainme ...

. The race began on June 20, 1999 in Washington, D.C., and finished on June 29, 1999 at Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida.Louisiana DNR article
/ref> The event was won by the University of Missouri at Rolla (now Missouri S&T). Sunrayce 99 was the fifth and final race in the Sunrayce series and was followed by the first

American Solar Challenge The American Solar Challenge (ASC), previously known as the North American Solar Challenge and Sunrayce, is a solar car race across the United States. In the race, teams from colleges and universities throughout North America design, build, test ...

in 2001. The overall success of the event was limited by difficult weather conditions. Teams battled clouds and rain throughout the race, and no team avoided having to trailer their car for at least part of the race route. Teams were allowed deviate from the traditional

lead–acid battery The lead–acid battery is a type of rechargeable battery first invented in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Planté. It was the first type of rechargeable battery to be invented. Compared to modern rechargeable batteries, lead–acid batteries ha ...

technology for the first time in Sunrayce 99 when nickel–metal hydride batteries were approved for use. The new battery technology offered equivalent capacity to lead acid batteries but weighed several hundred pounds less. Nickel–metal hydride batteries were very expensive at the time, so only the most well funded teams could afford them. Unfortunately the rainy weather and slow speeds neutralized the advantage of the new battery technology.

Route

*Day 1: June 20: Start in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, finish in

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. *Day 2: June 21: Start in Charlottesville, Virginia, finish in

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. *Day 3: June 22: Start in Raleigh, North Carolina, finish in Charlotte, North Carolina. *Day 4: June 23: Start in Charlotte, North Carolina, finish in Clemson,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. *Day 5: June 24: Start in Clemson, South Carolina, finish in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. *Day 6: June 25: Rest day in Atlanta, Georgia. *Day 7: June 26: Start in Atlanta, Georgia, finish in Macon, Georgia. *Day 8: June 27: Start in Macon, Georgia, finish in

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. *Day 9: June 28: Start in Tallahassee, Florida, finish in

Ocala Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Florida, United States. Located in North Central Florida, the city's population was 63,591 as of the 2020 census, up from 56,315 at the 2010 census and making it the 43rd-most popul ...

, Florida. *Day 10: June 29: Start in Ocala, Florida, finish in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, Florida.

Results

References

{{Reflist Electric vehicles in the United States Solar car racing