Two new racing teams are on campus as of last year, both striving to save the world one gallon of gas at a time. Both teams have set out to build vehicles to race at the end of the year against colleges from around the world.

So you might say, “This sounds great! Why wouldn’t everyone jump on board?” The answer: mass confusion. The similar eco-friendly and car-minded ideas driving both teams have caused many to mistake Rensselaer Formula Hybrid with RPI Solar Car, and vice versa. The presence of four wheels and an environmental focus, however, is where the similarities end.

The RPI Solar Car Team is a group of students passionate about building a car that runs entirely on solar power. They compete for speed and distance in an Australian competition against other teams from around the world.

Rensselaer Formula Hybrid, on the other hand, is a team much like Formula SAE. Not only is our vehicle an environmentally friendly hybrid-electric vehicle, but also a high performance Formula One-style race car. We race at the end of the year as well, again against teams from around the world. The cars are judged on straight line performance, endurance racing, and a myriad of other qualities.

Imagine our frustration then, when after a hard day’s work of building a race car, a well meaning RPI student approaches, only to utter, “Wow, this is pretty cool! I had heard about Solar Car!” So please, spread the word. There are two new projects on campus: A hybrid racecar and a solar racer.

For more information on either team, check out http://rpisolar.blogspot.com/ and http://formulahybrid.rpi.edu/. I trust you can tell which is which.

Ricky Willems

PDI ’09

Formula Hybrid Vice President