High School and Community College EV RACING can make Electric Cars Available to Low-Income Communities - And help build valuable skills. By Michael Markrich
Courtesy University of Maryland
Public High Schools throughout the United States are experimenting with new programs to interest their students in cars. In Sacramento, local students are converting ‘low riders’ in the Mexican American community; a spokesperson says this program not only made EV cars available to underserved communities – (important from the standpoint of reducing the dependence on fossil fuels - but it captured the imagination of young people in the class, and made them as one said, “super excited.” In Indiana, this was taken a step further where 120 high school students with EV go carts were encouraged to race around a track in the “Test and Tune EV Grand Prix.” The students get exhilarated by the adrenaline rush and the companionship of building a vehicle and racing it competitively.
In Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio high school students can show off their fuel cell vehicles and sometimes race around a track in an EV Grand Prix In Wisconsin, there is actually a high school racing association where students between 14-19 race cars with special safety features around race tracks. Colleges pay attention to this and sometimes provide scholarships in mechanical engineering. At the University of Maryland, there are regular EV races.
Although car clinics presently exist at the community college level in Hawaii, there is no reason that this cannot start at the high school level and that the University of Hawaii can be part of this trend. Race tracks and car cultures exist on Kauai, on the Island of Hawaii, and on Maui. Honolulu has not had a raceway since 2014.
But this could change. There is presently talk of opening another race park on city land. One reason is that it would discourage the current problem of street racing. (160 drivers are arrested for street racing on Oahu each year) Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi says he supports this idea. It is thought that a new track could largely eliminate this problem. It could make many high school and community college students happy too.
Could a high school EV fuel cell Hawaii Grand Prix be held in Hawaii and make young people excited about going to school again? (And at the same time promote energy equity by reducing fossil fuel use in communities that do not think they can afford EV vehicles.) It seems like trying this would be a win for everyone.
1. https://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-high-school-students-convert-lowrider-ev/44259843
2. https://www.wishtv.com/news/education/purdue-hosts-electric-vehicle-go-kart-race/
3https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/2-all-girl-teams-from-md-to-compete-in-electric-vehicle-grand-prix-at-rfk-stadium/
4. https://www.khon2.com/local-news/could-building-a-new-racetrack-stall-illegal-street-racing-advocates-say-it-will/
5 http://racing.umd.edu/
