A team of UWindsor mechanical and electrical engineering students competed in the Electric Vehicle Grand Prix, last month in Indianapolis.
Building two electric vehicles from the ground up takes patience and teamwork.
A group of UWindsor mechanical and electrical engineering students learned this first-hand, spending four months in the shop designing and building go-karts to compete in the Electric Vehicle Grand Prix in Indianapolis on May 17 and 18.
“It was incredible to have 19 people on our team working together,” said Marcus Boin, the team’s head of design. “It felt like more than just a team project. We worked really hard, but had fun, too.”
Competitors had to complete 50 laps on a one-third mile track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, enduring rough racing conditions while travelling up to 50 miles per hour. Winners were determined based on a combination of position at the end of the race, efficiency, design and outreach to the community.
Windsor, the only Canadian team in the competition, saw its first vehicle tie for third in the outreach and design categories and place fourth in energy efficiency and fifth in the actual race, snagging a fourth-place finish overall. The second UWindsor vehicle tied for first in the design category and finished 13th overall.