Sunseeker 295

Sunseeker 295 is the solar powered vehicle that Western Michigan University entered in the 2001 American Solar Challenge.

This vehicle originated in 1992 when it was designed and built for the 1993 GM Sunrayce. This race from Dallas, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota had 34 solar team entries. Cloudy and damp weather made the race more challenging than expected. A tropical downpour started on the way through Missouri, but the WMU Sunseeker 93 team did not give up and the car crawled across the finish line in 18th place.

Using Sunseeker 93 as a base, the 1995 team was able to do extensive testing. Sunseeker 93 had a strong chassis, but it needed many improvements. A new solar array was built, a new power-train was installed, and the aerodynamics was refined. The car was painted Bronco Gold and the car was named Sunseeker 95.

The 1995 Sunrayce had 38 entries in a race that ran from Indianapolis to Golden, Colorado. The East to West route was chosen to avoid the lengthy weather systems like those during the 1993 race. Sunseeker 95 proved itself by placing 8th in the field of 38 cars.

The Sunrayce organizers asked to use Sunseeker 95 as a public relations tool to promote the solar car race and to educate the public about alternative energy. Two months prior to the 1997 Sunrayce, Sunseeker 95 travelled the 1997 race route and stopped in every town to display the car and educate the public.

After the 1997 race, Sunseeker 95 was loaned to the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners to be displayed in the Steam and Electric Vehicle barn.

GM ended its sponsorship of solar car racing after the 1999 Sunrayce. A new organization took over to run the race event and called itself the American Solar Challenge. Its first event was the longest solar race in the world, Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles, a 2400 mile race. Problems with reconfiguring the 1999 solar car prompted WMU to pull Sunseeker 95 out of retirement from the Gilmore Car Museum to make modifications to the car. A new array panel was built with more efficient solar cells, additional array support was constructed, the original spoked wheels were replaced with the carbon fiber wheels from the 1999 car, and the car was renamed Sunseeker 295. It was entered in the stock class of vehicles with terrestrial grade solar cells and lead-acid batteries. There were 28 vehicles that finished the 2001 American Solar Challenge. Sunseeker 295 took 5th place in stock class and 23rd overall. National Geographic included Sunseeker 295 in a documentary on solar cars that was aired on their cable network.

During the two years following the 2001 American Solar Challenge, Sunseeker 295 was used extensively as a recruiting and teaching tool, visiting numerous schools in the West Michigan area, participating in energy events, in parades and special WMU events. Once a new Sunseeker was build for 2003, Sunseeker 295 was returned to the Gilmore Car Museum for display. In 2008, the museum ran out of space due to new donations of vehicles. Sunseeker 295 was returned to WMU and refurbished and is now on display at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. More than a million people have seen the WMU Sunseeker solar cars.