Israel's first solar race car heads to Belgium

(JNS) — When AFEKA Racing lines up on the starting grid in Belgium this September, the team’s solar-powered car will carry more than batteries and photovoltaic panels.

A Magen David will be emblazoned on the vehicle, alongside the racing number 18, symbolizing chai (“life”). For the engineering students behind the project, the markings are a deliberate statement that they are proud to compete openly as Israelis.

“We see ourselves as an Israeli team representing Israel,” Dan Herman, head of Tel Aviv’s Afeka College of Engineering’s Vehicle Systems Track and the team’s mechanical mentor, told JN...