Zero Emissions Race teams with fans in Cancun, Mexico. [Photo Credit: Zero Emissions Race Blog]

After 25, 000 km of driving across 71 days, the Eurasian and North American leg of the Zero Emissions Race are now complete. Still to come: The second European leg of the race which will bring participants full circle back to Switzerland, where they started nearly three months ago.

The North American leg of the journey was completed in Cancun, Mexico, on Dec. 6 where the teams also participated at some of the events organized for the United Nations World Climate Change Conference.

For Zero Emissions Race, organizer Louis Palmer – who in 2008 become the first person to circle the globe in a solar-powered vehicle -- invited drivers from all over the world to drive their own car around the world. The only condition is that the energy used by each electric vehicle be offset by the generation of electricity via renewable energy forms (sun, wind, wave, geothermal, etc.) at designated production facilities in the racers’ home countries. Palmer’s aim with the Zero Emissions Race is to present emissions-free mobility solutions.

In Cancun, the teams also spent some time completing maintenance and repair work in Cancun, before packing up for maritime shipping to Valencia, Spain for the final part of the 80-day journey around the world. As has been done on ocean crossing before, all the electric vehicles, including the support bus and the trailer were squeezed into a 40-foot long container for transport across the Atlantic Ocean this time.

The Zero Emission Race will officially recommence in mid-January in Europe. The race began Aug. 16, 2010 at the United Nations office in Geneva. It is scheduled to conclude there on Jan. 22, 2011.

Related articles-->

• Solar Zerotracer leads first Zero Emissions Race
• Solar-powered car traverses the globe
• Solar boat is making historic global journey
• Solar-charged driving 101

Like this story? Interested in the solar EV/PHEV synergy? Join our Sun Miles® Club and start meeting & interacting with other people around the world who want to drive, or already are driving, their cars on sun! Register to join us today!