Vehicles run in a “heat” (a race) for one hour on a closed track. The vehicle with the most laps wins.  Vehicles must make a “pit stop” in the middle of the heat to change drivers, which doubles the number of driving participants and gets a four-student pit crew involved.  Once the heat begins, the vehicle’s batteries may not be replaced or recharged.

In a straight line, vehicles drive into a “stopping zone” and stop in as short a distance as possible. Electronic devices measure the stopping distance and speed.

Vehicles navigate a series of five cones, each spaced 25’ apart, with the shortest elapsed time winning the event. There are penalties for hitting or skipping a cone, or if a wheel leaves the ground (which is an unsafe way to drive).

This is a non-driving event in which judges score each vehicle across a series of factors, such as craftsmanship, innovation, appearance, and roadworthiness. The highest-rated vehicle wins the event.

This is another non-driving event in which each vehicle team writes a “Journal” describing everything about the team and vehicle. Example topics are short biographies of team members and their roles, the vehicle’s design, how that design was converted into an actual vehicle, testing process, lessons learned, a parts list, etc. In one competition class, a five-minute multimedia “marketing” presentation must be submitted. Judges score each Journal, and the high score wins the event.