Iowa State University student Tim Lappe feels like a rock star every time his solar car team rolls into a new town that serves on a checkpoint on the trek from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Lappe and his teammates stopped at UNM, which was one of many checkpoints for the American Solar Challenge Thursday through Saturday.
“People are just so supportive and they honk at us while we’re on the road,” he said. “It’s just really cool that people get so excited about solar cars. We love it and they love it — it’s awesome.”
The Iowa State team spent two years building their solar car, Odyssey, complete with flames that decorate the car’s front end.
Lappe is one of the team’s drivers, which he said is an amazing but grueling experience. Temperatures in the vehicles can reach 130 degrees.
“I loved being able to see the beautiful mountains as we came through this area,” he said. “I had never seen this part of the country in this way. Our roof is clear, so you can see everything, unlike regular cars with covered roofs that block the beautiful scenery. It’s just so amazing to travel Route 66 like this.”
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Mostly college teams competed in the international event, but students from Los Altos High School in Los Altos, Calif., held their own at the event.
“It’s been a really cool experience,” said Joseph Franchino, who helped build the Los Altos car, Solar Shadow Two.”
Franchino said the Los Altos program has been around for a long time, and he decided to join the solar project because it sounded interesting.
“I am so glad I did this because it has been a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun,” he said.
The craziest moment Franchino saw on the road was a collision on I-40 just outside of Albuquerque.
“The South Bank University team from England crashed their car, and it was just crazy to see it happen right before my eyes,” he said. “They responded well and have been able to fix the car, but it was just strange to see the highway turn and their car go straight. I’ll never forget it.”
While teams checked on their cars, 10 year-old Benjamin Bean intently watched them work. His face lit up when he was allowed to help one team hose down its car, which ran more efficiently when cooled down.
Bean watched the cars roll in Friday and Saturday, filling out his Solar Car Spotter Chart that was part of UNM’s Route 66 Diamond Jubilee Celebration.
“I thought it would be neat to see all the solar cars, and I really like the idea of solar energy,” Bean said. “It’s pretty neat to see that people are starting to use solar energy instead of fuel.”
While all the solar excitement was concentrated on the southeast corner of main campus across from Johnson Field, the Cornell Mall was the hub of more campus Route 66 festivities.
A parade of performances was held in front of the UNM Bookstore, including a performance by miniature mariachis. Students from East San Jose Elementary School, called Embajadones, had only been together six months, but charmed crowds with their renditions of Mexican classics.
A variety of campus departments also offered demonstrations for community members, including messages from the Student Health Center and interactive chemistry experiments led by UNM students.
Ruth McDonald brought her three children out for the event because she thought they would enjoy the celebration. They giggled as students showed them how to make slime and demonstrated safe ways to set off homemade firecrackers.
“I am really glad they had this event for people in the community — it’s really nice,” McDonald said.
