THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505120257
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL AND JENNIFER C. O'DONNELL, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
THEY HAD HOPED just to finish their project in time for the contest.
But a team of teachers and high school students from Chesapeake's Center for Science and Technology recently did a lot better than they ever dreamed at the Electric Vehicle Grand Prix in Richmond. The three-day Grand Prix, sponsored by Virginia Power Co., was intended to encourage students to learn about electric vehicles and to show the public what electric cars can do.
The Chesapeake team's yellow-and-white, battery-powered car, which they converted from an old gasoline-powered Volkswagen donated by one of the teachers, won first place among 19 high school teams in an acceleration contest. The vehicle completed an eighth of a mile in 15.25 seconds.
Overall, the team tied for fifth in a series of six contests at the Richmond International Raceway, including acceleration, design and handling and braking.
``We used anything we could find to put this vehicle together,'' said Nathan Williams, instructor of auto technology at the center. ``We have parts from a bed frame keeping the batteries in place and a few other odds and ends incorporated into the structure.''
In addition, the car has eight 12-volt batteries for a total of 96 volts, powering the engine. An auxiliary battery handles the control elements such as the car's cooling fans and lights.
The team's success did not come without some glitches. In the handling and braking competition, the car locked up. Also, the vehicle completed only 16 of 35 laps in a race with the other cars before its batteries went dead. That put Chesapeake 17th out of 19.
The students were not disappointed, however.
``Can't win them all,'' said Williams.
Chesapeake did better than its only local competitor, the Norfolk Technical Vocational Center.
The Norfolk team's electric vehicle, competing for the second year, finished last in the race and behind Chesapeake in all of the other competitions.
The Chesapeake car's performance came as a surprise, especially considering that teachers and students at the center designed and assembled the car in just a few months. It was test-driven the day before the contest.
``Our testing was really on the track at Richmond,'' Williams said.
The Center for Science and Technology almost didn't compete in the Grand Prix at all.
``We were approached at the end of December when another school dropped out,'' said Linda Scott, principal of the school. ``We committed in January and that didn't give us much time to prepare for the race.''
Scott said the Grand Prix was a learning experience for the kids and the teachers.
``We had no idea what to really expect,'' she said. ``They're already talking about next year.''
``It was all a team effort, you know,'' said T. Allan Drew, 16, a junior at Great Bridge High and an automotive technology student at the center. ``I'm really pleased with our performance, even though we didn't win much. Hopefully, we'll do better next year.''
The team will need sponsors. It took about $6,000 in donated cash and parts to build the car this time around. The team hopes to make modifications that will give the car more endurance and better handling and braking. MEMO: For information about donations, call the center at 547-0134.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Students are, clockwise beginning at front: Allan Drew, Heather
Crawford, Merle Paschedag, Tony Smith and Mikhiel DeBraux.
by CNB