Solar Car Prototype Emilia 5.9 Wins Third Place at the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge

After covering more than three thousand kilometres across the Australian Outback, Emilia 5.9 — the solar car prototype developed by the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Bologna and the Onda Solare team — secured third place in the Cruiser Class at the latest edition of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.

The competition, regarded as the world championship for solar cars, featured 34 teams from across the globe. Only 17 of them managed to complete the course to Adelaide, including just three Cruiser vehicles out of the seven that set off from Darwin on 24 August.

In this highly competitive context, Onda Solare was the only Italian team to actively take part in the race. Emilia 5.9 is the first Italian-made Cruiser-class prototype ever to successfully complete the Australian challenge — marking a milestone in Italy’s journey toward sustainable mobility.

This achievement is the result of the commitment and determination of the 18 team members — engineers, researchers, students, volunteers and communicators — who combined their expertise and passion in a challenge that tested both technology and human endurance.

Adding to their racing success was a major technical-scientific recognition: the CSIRO Innovation Award, granted by the organisers for the vehicle’s suspension system, described as “devilishly complex yet elegant.”

The Australian adventure of Emilia 5.9 represents an important step forward in the research and innovation path supported by MOST – National Centre for Sustainable Mobility and funded by the European Union through the Next Generation EU programme.