Georgian to race student-made electric vehicle
April 19, 2016
Ahmad Hachem and the electric vehicle he helped build
Georgian’s EV Challenge Club, led by Mechanical Engineering Technology student Ahmad Hachem, is looking forward to racing the car they’ve built from scratch at the University of Waterloo’s Electric Vehicle Challenge on Saturday, May 28.
“It’s an endurance race,” Hachem explains. “Our car has to do as many laps as possible within one hour, on one battery life. All vehicles in the race use the same type of battery.”
The race, which used to be exclusively for high school students, has never included a postsecondary institution. Georgian is excited to lead the charge, and hopes other colleges will follow.
Georgian’s electric vehicle was created by more than 40 students – with a core team of about 15 people contributing regularly. Since starting the project in September, they have spent hours designing, planning and building the vehicle.
“We took it for its first test spin a week or two ago and it worked really well,” Hachem says. “That was great to see because usually there are a few issues on the first test run.”
Faculty members and technologists Doug Shirriff, Ed Leach, Dave Minielly and Jared Ottoman decided to create the club after attending the race in Waterloo last year. They are mentoring the students and supporting the project.