A solar car built by ISU students is being tweaked and going through test runs before Team PrISUm goes to its major national competition in July.

PrISUm Spectrum will race in the American Solar Challenge, from Chicago to Claremont, Calif. July 13-23.

John Anastos, junior in aerospace engineering and one of PrISUm Spectrum’s five potential drivers, said PrISUm Spectrum has the potential to be one of the best cars racing.

“As long as we can get some miles on our car, [it’s] probably going to be one of the best ones built,” Anastos said. “We have the potential of getting first.”

Team PrISUm has made great strides from a few weeks ago, said Sarah Shay, assistant project director.

Anastos said many of the pieces necessary for the car came in later than expected. Team members put in many hours the week before they went to the Formula Sun Grand Prix, a qualifying race in Topeka, Kan.

“A lot of us didn’t go to some of our finals just so we could finish the car,” he said.

The race in Kansas was the first time team members had raced with all of the equipment in the car.

Shay said the first day of the Formula Sun Grand Prix, PrISUm Spectrum had electrical troubles, and it only ran a few laps. The second day, however, went much better for Team PrISUm.

“[There was] more energy coming into the battery pack than we knew what to do with,” Shay said.

Team PrISUm’s luck turned for the worse again when one-fifth of their battery pack’s cells blew. Shay said everything on the car is in working condition except for the battery pack.

“We’re all caught up now, the car is done,” she said. “The battery pack is the only thing holding us up now.”

Team PrISUm’s biggest endeavor right now is to raise enough money to pay for a new battery pack, which costs about $30,000, Shay said.

Fundraising skills, as well as technical skills, are some of the most valuable lessons taught to students by being a part of Team PrISUm, Anastos said.

Zachariah Varney, junior in electrical engineering and electrical team member, said the most important thing he learned was teamwork.

Varney said many of the things he learned by helping build PrISUm Spectrum are applicable to his coursework as well.

Most of PrISUm Spectrum was funded by in-kind donations from businesses like Boeing and Northwest Airlines, Shay said.

PrISUm Spectrum was built during the past two years, and is the seventh car Team PrISUm has built.

“This car has a completely different design from past cars. An integrated canopy instead of a bubble for the driver’s head makes the car more aerodynamic,” Shay said. Aerodynamics are extremely important for a solar car.

PrISUm team members spend one year designing the car and the second year building and racing the car, Anastos said.

Shay said Team PrISUm learns from every problem they encountered with past cars.

“Every time you build a car you learn from the projects before,” she said.