Date: May 28, 2008

Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT - 2: 15 p.m. EDT

Grades: Grades 7-12

How to Participate: H.323 Videoconferencing via Internet2 Commons

Cost: Free!

Program Description:

Methacton High school has an electric car and has recently built a solar photovoltaic solar cell array to charge the car. This program will show how battery electric vehicles work, how solar cells produce electricity and the practicality of using renewable energy to charge an electic vehicle - from both student and teacher perspectives.

The car itself has a fiberglass frame, three wheels and runs on 17, 12-volt lead, acid-gel batteries. The car, with the batteries, weighs 2150 pounds. The three wheels make it lighter, producing less friction, which demands less energy. The Lorax has a three phase AC induction motor. The Solectria controller takes the 204 volts from the batteries and converts them to a three phase AC pulse to make the motor run. It has 700ft/lbs. of torque at the drive wheel. The car has been driven at speeds of up to 80 mph. The first part of the presentation will focus on its design and performance.

Our latest project, which was completed in April of this year by the students, installed a 1000 watt solar photovoltaic array on the roof of the garage where the electric car is stored. The goal is be to make "The Lorax" (the name of the electric car) totally renewable by collecting more energy from the sun than the energy needed to charge the car. Any additional energy collected from the solar photovoltaic cells will be used for the electrical needs of the garage with the surplus then being fed back to the school. We have collected over 60 KwH of energy since its installation on April 12 th.

The Lorax has achieved success in competition, by achieving first and second place wins at the “Tour de Sol”, a national competition, in the battery electric division. The Lorax has been featured on local news stations, The History Channel, and "Cool Fuel", a series which aired on the Discovery Channel. This year we will be competing in the 21st Century Automotive Challenge in June in New Jersey.

This is an 'open forum' videoconference event - - students and teachers are encouraged to ask questions throughout!

About Methacton High School's Electric Car Club

The goal of our club is to educate the public one car at a time. The program will focus on how the electric car was built, how it works, the positives and negatives of this particular car and how we are using solar energy to charge the batteries. Our goal was to no longer be dependent on the local utility company (which provides nuclear energy) and make the car totally renewable. Any background information that teachers could provide on these topics would allow their students to have a greater understanding for the material being discussed.

More information about the Electric Car Club can be found at: http://www.methactonecc.org.

Preparing Students for the Interactive Videoconference Event:

Questions to Research: Students should research the following before participating in this event: What is the chemical composition of hybrid batteries? How does a battery produce electricity? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using battery electric vehicles? How do solar cells produce electricity? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using solar energy? List a few changes that the students would be willing to do to make their homes use less energy?