Teens build electric car from scratch

by Keith Anderson

May 27, 2005 Montreal - Teen members of the Vincent Massey Collegiate Engineering Club showed off their electric vehicle yesterday. Seven, soon to be graduated engineering students built the car from scratch.

They want to demonstrate that electric cars are not boring and can be sleek and built for speed. The V-Mach, as it has been named can reach speeds of 110 kph, weighs in at a little over 225 kilograms and is designed to save energy.

Due to be entered in the nationwide Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa Electrathon, the students plan on winning a gold medal. The school didn't have the budget, so the students raised $15,000 to research, design and fabricate the one seat roadster and obtained a host of valuable technical advice, components and services from local companies.

It was a valuable hands-on experience for all the 17 year old students and they succeeded in their goal of designing and making a competitive electric vehicle.