Eco Factor: Electric vehicle grand prix to rev up interest in electric vehicles.
Purdue University will hold the inaugural Electric Vehicle Grand Prix April 18 as part of a program to educate a new generation of highly skilled workers to design, build and service electric vehicles. Researchers at the university state that electric vehicles represent the future and they’re getting students prepared for the same.
President Barack Obama last year announced that Purdue would lead the consortium, a $6.1 million effort funded through the U.S. Department of Energy with money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The consortium will develop degree and training programs for the electric-vehicle industry, which is expected to grow dramatically in coming decades. About 60 students in several Purdue courses are involved in developing the evGrandPrix.
Fifteen go-karts will race in the first annual evGrandPrix at 1 p.m. on April 18 at Purdue’s Grand Prix track in West Lafayette. The race will last about an hour, with the vehicles taking roughly 100 laps. The vehicles are built on a platform – called a kart – a tubular-steel frame 5 feet long and 44 inches wide. They will be capable of accelerating faster than traditional gas powered go-karts, but will be restricted to a top speed of about 35 mph for safety purposes. Scoring will be based on a combination of race performance, energy efficiency, engineering design and community outreach.
Go-kart development and construction is the centerpiece of a new Purdue course in electric vehicle technology, in which 24 students are enrolled. The students, who are organized into four teams, each of which will race their karts, are learning about various aspects of electric vehicles, including battery technology, vehicle construction, and electronic controls and braking systems.
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