The world’s toughest solar car challenge

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY - 14 August 2025 - Solar-powered across the Australian Outback: In just over a week, the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge will kick off in Australia. This international competition, held since 1987, brings together teams from around the world to race self-built, solar-powered vehicles across the continent. It is considered the toughest test of its kind globally. Among the participants is a student team from Aachen, Germany, with a race car powered by high-performance adhesives from Henkel.

Top Performance for Demanding Applications

Covering around 3,000 kilometers, the solar car named "Aethon" will travel from Darwin in the north to Adelaide in the south of Australia at the end of August. This required top-tier engineering from the racing team, which consists of students from RWTH and FH Aachen. Henkel has been a sponsor of the project since this year, supporting the team with structural adhesives for bonding various mechanical components, high-performance materials for manufacturing carbon parts, threadlockers, and repair adhesives to minimize downtime during the race.

Henkel's adhesive technologies are held to the highest performance standards. For example, Henkel's threadlockers ensure that all chassis component screws can withstand the vehicle's intense vibrations. In addition, the solar car is made predominantly of ultra-light carbon fibers, which make the vehicle aerodynamic, lightweight - and therefore particularly efficient. To manufacture these carbon components, Henkel supports the process with adhesive technologies that bond the finished carbon fiber parts together. All products provided by Henkel to team Sonnenwagen are standard in the automotive industry and other sectors.

"There is a strong overlap between the team's ideas and Henkel's," says Sjoerd Dijkstra, Director Sustainability Strategy & Excellence at Henkel Adhesive Technologies.

"Through our partnership, we aim to support young talents and, of course, showcase the performance and sustainability of our solutions in demanding applications across key industrial sectors. We see this project as an ideal innovation platform for forward-looking adhesive technologies in the automotive industry."

50 Years Henkel Australia – Celebrating 5 decades of purposeful growth and trusted partnerships

Henkel, a global leader in adhesives, sealants and functional coatings, is also celebrating its 50th anniversary in Australia this month. Building on five decades of innovation and trusted partnerships, Henkel Australia aims to continue driving purposeful growth with sustainability and high impact solutions at the heart of its business.

"Our purpose "Pioneers at Heart for the Good of Generations" is highlighting our team's continuous commitment to sustainability in everything we do. As we commemorate 50 years of Henkel Australia, we celebrate delivering excellence in technology and sustainable value to our trusted partners - always with the next generation in mind. The partnership with Team Sonnenwagen perfectly mirrors these shared values. It allows us to support directly with some of our high-tech adhesives, while building strong bonds with young talents engineering the future today," says Daniel Rudolph, President of Henkel Australia and New Zealand.

In 2024, Henkel defined its net-zero roadmap, substantially extending its targets for emissions reduction along the value chain. Since 2022, both Australian manufacturing sites have been operating on 100% renewable electricity, achieving a 50% reduction in carbon emissions in 2022 compared to the previous year, one of many examples how Henkel Australia is contributing to the global goal.

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