The West Philadelphia High School Electric Vehicle Team

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Team History and Awards

 

Team  History:

The West Philadelphia High School Electric Vehicle Program (WPEVP) began in the fall of 1997 with one project that won second place at the Philadelphia Science Fair.  From that initial success, a summer program at Drexel University was established and the following 1998-1999 school year proved to be even more successful.  During this school year, the students built an electric Jeep that took first place, receiving “Best of Fair” at Philadelphia’s science fair.  Such success is rarely heard of from an inner city high school, and as a result, the WPEVP students attracted publicity including a front page article in the Sunday Inquirer Automotive section, a Popular Science magazine article, and a story on the Action News (see articles).

During the 1999-2000 school year, a mentoring program with University of Pennsylvania students was formed.  West Philadelphia students each had their own mentor to guide them with their science fair projects, which contributed to the conversion of a Saturn vehicle to electric power.  The vehicle was entered in the Northeastern Sustainable Energy Association’s Tour de Sol race, where the WPEVP placed sixth and was the first team of color to ever enter the race.

The 2000-2001 school year also had some impressive achievements.  The WPEVP team's improvement of the aerodynamics of the Saturn using Boeing's wind tunnel won "Best Project" at the Philadelphia Science Fair and the result of their conversion of the Jeep Wrangler to a hybrid vehicle was the "Power of Dreams" award presented by Norman Mineta, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

The 2001-2002 school year proved to be even more successful than the years before.  The Saturn that the team converted to an electric vehicle won first place overall in the Tour de Sol, along with many other awards, including Greenest Light Duty Vehicle and Most Efficient Light Duty Vehicle. The hybrid vehicle placed second!

 

Program Goals:

·        Motivate and equip students to go on to college and generate college scholarships for students who do not have support systems for college. 

·        Inspire young people to believe they are capable of achieving at high levels through hard work and commitment. 

·        Promote teamwork, life skills development and healthy life choices by being paired with college mentors and working with their peers to complete their project.

 ·        Develop high level problem solving, math, science and engineering skills among inner-city high school students.

The West Philadelphia High School Electric Vehicle Program has had tremendous success in achieving these goals over the past five years.

 

Major Supporters since 1999:

Boeing (a day of testing in their wind tunnel - $30,000), Saturn of Trevose (1993 Saturn), Garry Barbara Dodge (1995 Jeep Wrangler), Toyota ($20,000 in educational grants), Michelin Tires ($4,000 in tires), Deka Batteries ($15,000 in batteries), MTS Automation ($20,000 in electric drives systems), Youth Works Summer Work Grants ($62,000), Sun Company ($15,000), Linamar Motors ($2,000 propane motor), Yanmar ($3,000 diesel motor), National Instruments ($3,500 LabView and hardware), Sprint Suspensions ($1,000 suspension kit), Hexcel Corporation($5,000 in composites), Philadelphia School District ($15,000), Academies Inc. ($10,000), District Council 33 ($7,000), PECO energy ($2,000), Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company ($3,000),  American Racing ($1,000 in racing rims) and University of Pennsylvania (Facility use and college mentor stipends $16,000).

 

Publicity:

Magazines:  Feature Article in November 1999, Popular Science and in March 2001, Black Enterprise

Newspapers:  Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Automotive front page (1999), Philadelphia Inquirer TechLife (2000 and 2001), New Observer (2001), University City Review (1999), Philadelphia Sun (2000), Green TV (2002)

Television: ABC news (three times), NBC news (twice), WB news (twice) and featured on Fast Forward (ABC prime time news show).

Radio:  KYW news radio, WDAS talk show, and on “Car Talk” on WZZD.

 

Awards: