About Electrathon America
THE RACE TO GO FARTHEST ON THE LEAST ENERGY
Electrathon America is a national student electric vehicle program built around a simple challenge: maximize efficiency. By designing, building, and racing ultra-efficient vehicles, students gain hands-on experience while exploring engineering, skilled trades, and emerging technology careers.
—SHAPING OUR FUTURE
WHY EFFICIENCY MATTERS
The future won’t be built by wasting resources. It will be built by engineers, technicians, and innovators who can accomplish more with less.
From electric vehicles and renewable energy to aerospace and advanced manufacturing, efficiency drives progress. The ability to maximize performance while minimizing energy, materials, cost, and waste is one of the most valuable skills in the modern economy.
Electrathon gives students the opportunity to tackle that challenge firsthand. Success comes from smart design, careful testing, strategic thinking, and continuous improvement. Every design decision matters. Every watt counts. And every improvement teaches lessons that extend far beyond the racetrack.
The result is more than a competition. It’s hands-on preparation for the careers and industries that are shaping our future.
Energy & Utilities
Transportation & Mobility
Aerospace & Technology
The Numbers
Efficiency measured in real-world performance
Electrathon cars are evaluated in MPGe (miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent), a standard measure of energy efficiency. Built and optimized by student teams, these vehicles consistently achieve efficiency levels that exceed many production electric vehicles.
Put another way, Electrathon vehicles can travel significantly farther on the same amount of energy than most consumer electric vehicles.
That combination of performance, constraint, and hands-on design is what defines the program. Students learn engineering concepts in the classroom and then apply them to real-world challenges in energy, transportation, and advanced manufacturing through measurable efficiency outcomes.
—design Engineering
Meet an electrathon vehicle
Electrathon vehicles may look simple, but they represent hundreds of design decisions and hours of testing.
Built around a lightweight chassis and powered by a small electric motor, these single-seat vehicles challenge students to think like engineers, balancing performance, efficiency, reliability, and strategy.
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
Heart behind the race
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 OF DIRECTORS
Volunteer leaders dedicated to advancing hands-on STEM education through electric vehicle competition. Drawing on experience in engineering, education, and industry, they provide the leadership and governance that guide Electrathon America and support its mission nationwide.
Mike Merchant
Chair
CEO of Codazen and a Bob Franz alum who raced Electrathon and solar cars. Brings 25+ years of digital innovation experience to the Foundation.
Oscar Juarez
Vice Chair
Pioneering EV engineer since 1994 and Bob Franz alum whose work at AC Propulsion contributed directly to the technology behind the original Tesla Roadster.
Erika Woo
Secretary
A Bob Franz Foundation alum who built solar vehicles, worked at JPL on the Mars Rovers, and holds a master’s in Industrial Design from ArtCenter.
Angela Lee
Treasurer
UCSD engineering grad with an MBA and 25+ years in software, product, and program management. Passionate about mentoring young professionals and advancing financial literacy.
Michelle Hickey
Executive Director
Spent the past 20+ years supporting the development of businesses and organizations that focus on solutions for a resilient future. Has a passion for sustainability and advancing student education on electrification.
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.
