An event in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on Monday marked the culmination of work by dozens of students in Wisconsin who built, from scratch, battery-powered cars.
And while the students learned skills like problem solving, teamwork, time management and electronics, spectators were given a glimpse into the future of transportation.
The cars competed in Electrathon Wisconsin events, which included determining how many laps around the Road America raceway the vehicles could complete in an hour. Batteries were the cars’ only power source.
The goal of Electrathon Wisconsin “is to bring attention to the environmental problems of conventional cars and demonstrate the viability of electric vehicles. The program provides a means of teaching young people how to evaluate alternatives and make sustainable lifestyle choices …” according to the group.
Orion supports the program’s mission and sponsored the No. 23 Orion car from Plymouth High School, built by seniors Brenden Schulz and Bob Chase. The students, both 18, plan on attending Michigan Tech in the fall as engineering majors.
Orion, which has developed solar technologies for commercial and industrial facilities, believes electric cars are eminent, and that they can be powered by the sun — the most abundant source of renewable energy available.
These students, through the skills they’ve acquired at this event might change the energy paradigm and one day revolutionize transportation by developing technologies that use photovoltaic systems to power electric vehicles.
We applaud all of the students involved in Electrathon Wisconsin. They are true innovators working toward a clean energy future.
