12 September 2025 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Kaleidoscope Studios
Eco Vehicle Race
A UFS student in action during last year’s Kovsie ACT Eco-Vehicle Race. This year, the race returns on 27 September 2025 with new university partners, the launch of the Eco-Vehicle 2.0 prototype, and even more student-driven innovation in sustainable engineering.
The University of the Free State (UFS) is ready to host its much-anticipated 8th Annual Kovsie ACT Eco-Vehicle Race on Saturday 27 September 2025 from 09:30 at the Bloemfontein Campus. This year’s event promises to be bigger and more exciting, with the launch of the Eco-Vehicle 2.0 prototype and the inclusion of new university partners.

According to Teddy Sibiya, Senior Assistant Officer: Kovsie Support Services, the 2025 Eco-Vehicle Race 2.0 reflects the UFS’s commitment to innovative, sustainable education and local empowerment. “It's a celebration of student creativity and collaborative engineering, and an invitation for the Bloemfontein community to engage with future-focused technology,” he adds.

 

Small beginnings 

The Eco-Vehicle Race forms the finale of a nine-month skills development programme that trains students in sustainable energy and eco-vehicle technology. Sibiya states that the programme follows a five-cycle structure (covering sustainability, green energy, software engineering, structural engineering and mechanical engineering) where they start with a small-scale vehicle, solar panel and charging station. Next, they learn to program and control the vehicles via phone or laptop, before they move on to constructing full-size vehicles with battery packs and solar panels. Finally, their skills are put to the test during the race, where energy efficiency is key.

For 2025, the event has grown to include 201 students across seven teams from the UFS colleges and six teams in the new inter-university competition. This marks the first time students from the University of South Africa (UNISA), and Nelson Mandela University (NMU) will take part alongside the UFS and the Central University of Technology (CUT) participants, making it a truly collaborative effort.

This year’s race will feature two separate tracks: the Eco-Vehicle 1.0 competition behind the Modlec Building, Parking Zone 7 Building (Parking Zone 7) for UFS college teams, including the Qwaqwa and South Campuses teams (two races by seven teams) and the Eco-Vehicle 2.0 inter-university race for the UFS Bloemfontein-Campus, UFS Qwaqwa Campus, UFS South Campus, NMU, CUT and UNISA (one race by six teams) along the maintenance route behind the Financial Law Building. Students will compete in several exciting categories including the Pit Stop for best vehicle presentation, the Smart lap, a timed lap where drivers take the main track for the first time, testing their vehicles’ performance and control under race conditions, and the Endurance Race focusing on energy efficiency. There will also be a Spirit Cup to recognise team enthusiasm and crowd engagement.

 

A deeper purpose

Dr WP Wahl, Director of Student Life at the UFS, highlights the event’s deeper purpose: “This initiative is about equipping students with real-world skills in sustainable engineering and supporting innovation that will prepare them for future careers. The race is the exciting culmination of months of hands-on learning and teamwork.”

The UFS Kovsie ACT invites the public and local community to witness this showcase of young talent and sustainable technology.


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