Students To Test, Race Their Electric Vehicles at NC State

Middle- and high-school students will show off, power up and race their model electric vehicles at North Carolina State University’s first Sustainable Transportation Education Program (STEP) at the McKimmon Center on Saturday, May 22.

The electric cars will compete from 9 a.m. to noon. Media coverage of the event is invited. The McKimmon Center is at the corner of Western Blvd. and Gorman St. and has ample free parking.

Six high schools and 10 middle schools are participating in the competition. Students will be judged on range, speed and design of their vehicles and on their solar charging stations.

Co-hosted by the North Carolina Solar Center – which is part of the university’s College of Engineering – and College of Education, the STEP Program educates students about the electrification of transportation, including electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electrical vehicles, charging, battery technologies, smart grid, virtual and physical modeling, data collection, analysis and interpretation, and green careers.