Chad’s a former student of mine who has been doing electric car projects for about six years now. On seeing The Cap Kart project, he says:
If I was going to start an electric vehicle school program, I would start by following these guidelines to build an electric go-kart! It looks like they got everything donated and therefore kept the overhead down. After doing this, you could challenge other schools in the area to a race. Also, this would be a great stepping stone for moving towards a full vehicle!!
A few years back, there were a few electric car events, such as Tour de Sol, but that program ended the year I first attended. Electrathon is a program where builders create an efficient electric vehicle, and judging from the vehicles it seems accessible to high school students.
You might have read Electric Dreams by Caroline Kettlewell, which tells the story of a group of high school students who set out to convert a gas car to electric. Noel Perrin’s Solo is a good, if dated, read on electric cars, how they work and why they provide a viable alternative to internal combustion transport. Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield has compiled a nice list of DIY EV links useful to anybody interested in electric drive.
If you were creating an electric car program in your school district, where would you find resources? Where would a student program turn for inspiration, information, tools, mentors or donated gear?
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