Lechler is proud to announce its collaboration with Covestro, a leader in high-performance materials, in providing an innovative and sustainable coating system for the construction of Sonnenwagen Æthon – the solar car built by the students of Team Sonnenwagen Aachen to face the demanding World Solar Challenge 2025, a journey of over 3,000 km across the Australian Outback.

Covestro, which has supported Team Sonnenwagen since 2017, presented the new Æthon prototype on May 26, 2025. Thanks to the partnership with Covestro, Lechler was able to adopt an exclusive technology for a rapidly curing “2K” coating system that uses bio-based binders. The system was applied both for the primer and the clearcoat of Sonnenwagen Æthon, enabling:
• Fast application: the entire car, including partner logos, was painted in only two weeks, with a complete refinish in just one week
• Sustainability focus: both binders contain at least 25% bio-based components, with low VOC emissions, and curing occurs at room temperature, reducing energy consumption and CO₂
• High performance: the coating provides corrosion protection, excellent gloss, and scratch resistance comparable to conventional systems

“By combining our technology with Lechler’s know-how, we provided Team Sonnenwagen with a more sustainable solution even in a short timeframe.”
— said Thomas Baeker, Marketing Manager Automotive and Industrial Coatings at Covestro.

Marco Pratelli – Marketing Manager Refinish Performance Coatings at Lechler – added:
“Collaborating on such a project means pushing the boundaries of technology. Having already commercialized coatings based on Pasquick® technology, partly bio-based, I am proud to apply it to a sustainable mobility project.”

Strengths of the applied cycle
• Speed: only 45 minutes to cure at room temperature, eliminating bottlenecks in coating processes
• Environmental care: reduced energy use and emissions thanks to the absence of ovens and bio-based binders
• High performance: resistance comparable to the best traditional systems

Shared value
This collaboration strengthens Lechler’s role as a provider of high-performance solutions for critical applications and confirms Covestro’s commitment to sustainable and innovative materials for the mobility of the future. The Sonnenwagen Æthon project is a concrete example of how companies and academia can cooperate to drive the evolution of the circular economy in mobility.