“IT TRAVELS such an obscene distance with so little fuel due to the vehicle’s uber-light weight: weighing only 240 pounds (110 kilograms)”
This is a car that Ormiston Park Academy students have built, in a competition against other local schools for the fastest car.
Sponsored by Greenpower, the car will be tested on its agility at Dunton Ford’s test track in the Summer. The car has been in creation for a year, and is now complete. However, final touches to increase its professional look will be added up until the Summer.
The car has an electric motor, can hold 2 people and is powered by two 24-bolt batteries and has been the creation of 12 students, 10 will be crew, 2 drivers.
The car was born off a challenge when the Principal’s decided to develop a vehicle for the technology department. What drove them to do it was their effort to design a vehicle with very little knowledge and was extremely happy when the car successfully completed its first test run.
Brett Devitt, a Technology Teacher at Ormiston Park Academy said, “it is actually no big trick to build a light-weight vehicle that is battery powered, but, according to experts, it is a considerable challenge to build a two-passenger car that can travel a fair mileage while meeting all safety standards and providing such amenities as an electric motor, while still being able to perform at speeds.
In addition, teams must show theoretically that it is possible to manufacture at least 5 of the vehicles per year and race them competitively.
But the 12 members of the team are undaunted by either the challenge or the competition. A pupil from the team said, “We’re showing that young people from Academy school’s can make revolutionary creations, especially when you get given the right resources.”
