The Western Sydney University’s (WSU) Solar Car team have officially crossed the finish line in the 2025 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, placing preliminarily sixth in the world and number one in Australia.
The team successfully traversed 3,000km of outback terrain from Darwin to Adelaide and successfully completed the Challenge in 37 hours 39 minutes, with their student-designed car, UNLIMITED 6.0.
The WSU Solar Team competed in the Challenger Class for the sixth time, which is the most competitive class requiring teams to produce a high-quality single-seat car built for sustained endurance and energy efficiency.
Team Manager, Ruairi Milligan, a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronics) student at WSU, expressed his pride at the team’s performance.
“Our spirit and determination were really on show throughout the challenge and brought us home,” he said.
“This year’s solar car, UNLIMITED 6.0, had one of the most ambitious and innovative designs – and this was reflected in our performance this year.
“Together we have built and operated the fastest endurance solar car in Australia, and we are incredibly proud of this achievement.”
The UNLIMITED 6.0 is able to travel at highway speeds through the Australian outback powered by the same amount of energy that a home kettle uses. The vehicle features new design upgrades including a composite front roll hoop that can support the weight of a family car while weighing just under two kilograms, to protect the driver.
The three-wheeled design has a top speed of 130km/h and took two years to design, engineer and manufacture.
The UNLIMITED 6.0 solar car can travel 300km using the same amount of energy a Tesla needs to travel 25km.
WSU Solar Car Team Member Isabelle Warland said the UNLIMITED 6.0 solar car performed exceptionally well, with this year’s results an improvement on their ninth-place world ranking in 2023.
“It’s a gruelling and dynamic competition but we were really proud of how UNLIMITED 6.0 performed,” Warland said.
“I am proud that our team collectively directs their own way forward and the results really cements our car as world-class.”
The WSU Solar Team is made up of 18 WSU students from the fields of engineering, communications, business, IT, computer and science.
The students manage every aspect of the production and design of the vehicle, as well as sponsorship, marketing and the administrative elements in their involvement in international competitions.
