About Electrathon America
THE RACE TO GO FARTHEST ON THE LEAST ENERGY
A national, student-focused electric motorsport that turns physics class into a competition — and competition into careers.
Why Efficiency Matters
Efficiency isn't glamorous on the surface — but it's the engine behind every company that changed the world.
“Use less energy” doesn’t sound thrilling. Look closer. SpaceX lands rockets to reuse every gram of fuel. Tesla rebuilt the car around the electron. Toyota grew an empire on doing more with less. The biggest breakthroughs of our era are efficiency stories — and that’s exactly the problem Electrathon students fall in love with.
Squeeze more distance from a fixed charge and you’re solving the same challenge every great engineering company is racing to crack. Efficiency drives the entire economy — the power grid, the supply chain, the chip in your phone. Master it young, and doors open. This is a direct on-ramp to real engineering careers.
All built on relentless efficiency.
Drives the economy
Energy, logistics and computing all run on efficiency — a multi-trillion-dollar discipline hiding in plain sight.
Where breakthroughs happen
Reusable rockets, electric cars, lean manufacturing — every leap forward is an efficiency story at heart.
A path to careers
Electrathon connects students directly to engineering pathways — and to employers who prize exactly this skill.
What is Electrathon?
One driver. One hour. One battery.
Teams design and build a lightweight, single-seat electric vehicle. On race day, every car runs the same format: one hour on a closed course, powered by a limited battery allowance. The car that completes the most laps wins.
Because energy is capped, winning is about engineering efficiency and race strategy — aerodynamics, weight, rolling resistance, and how the driver manages power — not raw horsepower. It’s the most educational form of motorsport in the country.
The Numbers
The most efficient cars on the road — built by teenagers
Electrathon cars are scored in MPGe — miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent. The results don’t just beat the best EVs on sale. They lap them.
Put another way: an Electrathon car squeezes more than ten times the distance out of the same energy as the most efficient EV money can buy — and students design and build it by hand for around $1,300. That’s the whole point. Efficiency this extreme is where real engineering happens, and it’s exactly the instinct that powers the companies and technologies shaping the future.
The Format
How a race works
Tech inspection
Every car is checked for safety and rules compliance — battery limits, braking, roll protection.
Green flag
All cars launch together. The clock starts and runs for a full 60 minutes.
Manage the energy
Teams balance speed against battery life. Driver swaps and pit strategy matter.
Most laps wins
When the hour ends, total distance decides the standings in each class.
Who Competes
Two classes, one paddock
Students never age out of the sport — they graduate into it.
For school teams
Students in grades 9–12 build and race under an advisor. The on-ramp to the sport, with rules and support designed for first-time builders.
- Advisor-led, classroom friendly
- Curriculum & grant resources
- Regional events near you
For everyone else
Colleges, clubs, alumni and adult builders. Fewer restrictions, more experimentation — the proving ground for advanced engineering.
- Keeps alumni in the sport
- Advanced & experimental builds
- Builds the community pipeline
People Behind The Sport
Bob Franz
A longtime champion of hands-on engineering education and student electric-vehicle racing, Bob Franz has dedicated his work to giving young people a real, affordable path into STEM through motorsport.
His advocacy for accessible, student-built electric racing reflects everything Electrathon America stands for — curiosity, craftsmanship, and the belief that the best way to learn engineering is to build something and race it.
Governance
Board & Advisors
The people who steer the organization — engineers, educators and industry leaders committed to keeping the sport rigorous, safe and accessible.
CHarles Vela
Engineering Scientist
Coined the term “STEM” in the late 1980s and spent decades backing it with institutions, federal advisory roles, and NSF recognition.
Ketan Renade
Mechanical Engineer
Helped develop EV battery R&D that inspired the original Tesla Roadster, worked at Toyota to plan next-generation electric vehicles.
Ron Swenson
Managing Director, INIST
A 50-year solar and EV pioneer, Stanford engineer, and serial entrepreneur who founded INIST to build an international curriculum around sustainable transportation.
Jason Gaschel
Florida Power and Light
A former automotive technology professor who secured NSF funding for EV education before joining Florida Power & Light to direct the state’s electric vehicle programs.
Isabella Burckhardt
Florida Power and Light
An FPL program manager who built the Electrathon Speedway Series, placing student-built EVs on tracks at Daytona, Sebring, and Homestead-Miami through partnerships with NASCAR and Formula E.
Rules Committee
Who writes the rulebook
A volunteer committee of technical experts keeps the rules fair, current and safe — and reviews every protest and appeal.
Technical Rules
Dana Whitfield — Chair
Vehicle specs, chassis & powertrain.
Safety
Marcus Bell
Roll protection, restraints & tech.
Battery & Power
Priya Raman
Energy allowance & electrical rules.
Scoring & Appeals
Lia Hammond
Results, MPGe scoring & protests.
Our History
35+ years on the grid
First Electrathon events run in the U.S., adapting a format born in the U.K.
Regional structure formalized — sanctioned events spread coast to coast.
High School class booms as STEM funding makes programs accessible.
67+ active teams across 16 states racing a over 140 different cars.
