UCOL supporting electric vehicle project

UCOL is helping secondary students develop their engineering skills, while learning about sustainability and electric transport as part of the EVolocity initiative.

EVolocity sees teams of secondary students build their own electric vehicles throughout the year, and then compete in regional and national competitions. The vehicles are judged on performance, design, and innovation. Students also get to race their completed vehicles on a race track.

The vehicles are powered by a standard 350 watt electric motor, controller, and two 12 volt gel cells.

UCOL is sponsoring Evolocity in the Horowhenua and Manawatū, having recently hosted the regional launch. UCOL will also be hosting a series of build days where students will work on their vehicles under the guidance of UCOL Automotive and Engineering lecturers.

At the launch event, students from Queen Elizabeth College, Tai Wananga Tū Toa, Nga Tawa, and Rangitīkei College were tasked with attaching electric motors to push bikes and taking them for a ride. The Queen Elizabeth College team won the award for the best bike.

UCOL Executive Dean of Engineering & Applied Technologies Danny Reilly says EVolocity is a great initiative to encourage students into engineering and promote sustainability.

“By hosting build days at our trades facility, we’ll be introducing students to a range of engineering skills. They’ll be able to get hands on in our workshops, and learn from our lectures in a number of areas of engineering.”

“A great thing about the initiative is that it encourages students to be innovative with their vehicle designs, and think about sustainable solutions in engineering and transportation. If we can get students focusing on sustainability from the get go, it puts them in good stead for their futures in engineering.”

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