Partnership for a sustainable future

Pushing boundaries together

The partnership between Team Sonnenwagen and Covestro has grown through close exchange since 2018. As main sponsor and material supplier, Covestro contributes more than ten materials to the current solar car as well as material and application expertise. The team Sonnenwagen brings its detailed understanding of the vehicle and its requirements. Together, both partners explore, develop and test potential solutions.

The Sonnenwagen is therefore more than a race car: it demonstrates how co-creation can turn ideas into practical applications. Selected material solutions with recycled or alternative feedstock attributed via mass balance* demonstrate how circular raw materials can be implemented in specific components. Examples include polyurethane foam with 40% chemically recycled feedstock* for the seat, Vulkollan^® foam with 20% recycled feedstock* for battery protection, and CQ binders Desmophen^® NH and Desmodur^® for the coating, with up to 48% alternative raw materials.

Partnership in practice

Discover the project from two perspectives: Material and Mindset. Explore the materials that shape the Sonnenwagen, see how both partners share a collaborative mindset, and experience how the partnership comes to life through live talks, conversations and video content.

A partnership with a strong track record

Since the partnership began in 2018, Team Sonnenwagen has developed several generations of solar cars and achieved strong results in international competitions. In 2022, the team became European champion at the iLumen European Solar Challenge and also won the Italian Solar Challenge.

At the 2024 European championship for solar cars in Zolder, Belgium, Team Sonnenwagen entered two vehicles: Photon finished second, while Adelie secured third place. In 2025, the team’s latest solar car, Æthon, competed in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, covering more than 3,000 kilometers from Darwin to Adelaide across the Australian Outback, and finished fourth.

These achievements demonstrate the team’s engineering expertise, determination and ability to build on the experience gained with each vehicle generation. At the same time, every new solar car creates fresh insights and new questions that feed into the ongoing exchange between Team Sonnenwagen and Covestro.

*According to ISCC PLUS Standard