http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2015/dec/21/bentonville-teens-to-give-car-an-electr/ Bentonville teens to give car an electric makeover December 21, 2015 Dave Perozek
[image / J.T. Wampler http://media.arkansasonline.com/img/photos/2015/12/21/90822741_BC-ELECTRIC-CAR-01_ORIG_t598.jpg?b7052f07a6139e7088ebc43100469802b2560d37 Tyler Scifres (from the left) Steven Douglass and Kyle Watson, Bentonville High School students, talk Tuesday about converting a 2000 Chevy Malibu into an electric powered car ] BENTONVILLE -- A team of Bentonville High School students intends to convert a traditional gasoline-powered car to an electric one and enter the vehicle in a competition in the spring. They already have the car, a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu donated to them last month by a Bentonville dealership. They also have the confidence and much of the knowledge they need to complete the project. Project leaders Tyler Scifres and Kyle Watson, both seniors, and Steven Douglass, a junior, expect to have the help of about 10 other students involved in the Technical Student Association, a club focused on projects related to science, technology, engineering and math. Tye Killingsworth, a digital electronics teacher at Bentonville High, is serving as the Electric Vehicle Team's adviser. "I'm trying to stay as hands-off as possible," Killingsworth said. "I'm just here to make sure they're being safe and respectful." The team's goal is to have the car ready in time for the EV Challenge, to be held in April in Raleigh, N.C. The event for high school students includes several kinds of competitions, from an oral presentation to tests of the students' vehicle design and range. The Bentonville students said they are awaiting official approval from school administrators before actually starting to take apart their car. In the meantime, they have been laying the groundwork for the project since August by researching parts and building techniques and raising money. "Hopefully as soon as we get back from break, we hit the ground running," Scifres said. They will strip the car down then build it back up, Watson said. They hope to get the conversion done in two to three months, leaving some time for testing before the competition. "We'd like to have about a 20-mile range on a single charge," Watson said. "We're allowed a maximum voltage of 120 volts." The team is still raising money, but it got a big boost when Wal-Mart's Lab 415-C donated $9,000. Lab 415-C is a group of employees who develop new technologies that align with the company's business strategies. Tom Douglass, Steven's father, is a senior manager of Lab 415-C. Terry Harrison, general manager at Crain Hyundai of Bentonville, said the Electric Vehicle Team asked for his help. "We gave them a very inexpensive (car) we were going to send to the wholesale auction," Harrison said. "We just thought it was really cool. Any time we can, we're glad to help." Brown's Collision Center, about a quarter-mile north of the school, agreed to give the team a place to store the car and work on it. "They're allowing us to use one of their bays and their machinery, all the heavy equipment we'll need," Scifres said. "They were one of the first people on this project." Brown's Collision Center also provided a trailer and pulled the car in this month's Bentonville Christmas parade. The parade "definitely got our name out there," Douglass said. Paul Stolt, the School District's director of communications, and Jeff Amerine, founding principal of Startup Junkie Consulting, also have been very helpful to the group, Scifres said. Each of the three team leaders has an interest in some kind of engineering: Scifres in electrical, Douglass in aerospace, and Watson in mechanical. "It will be fun to see how each person in the group approaches the project," Scifres said. The project will give students valuable experience considering the role alternative energies will play in the future, Watson said. Team online The Bentonville High School Electric Vehicle Team has a presence online at evchallengebentonville.weebly.com. It also has a Twitter account: @BvilleEVteam. Source: Staff report [© 2015 Northwest Arkansas Newspapers] ... http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2015/dec/21/bentonville-teens-to-give-car-an-electr/?f=news-arkansas Bentonville teens to give car an electric makeover [December 21, 2015] BENTONVILLE -- A team of Bentonville High School students intends to convert a traditional gasoline-powered car to an electric one and enter ... https://www.gofundme.com/rq59a2j4 BHS Student Electric Car Conversion September 29, 2015 Kyle Watson BENTONVILLE, AR We are the 12 members of the Bentonville High School Electric Vehicle team and we are raising money to convert a regular gas guzzler car into a zero emmissions, fully electric vehicle which we will then take to Raleigh, NC to compete against other high school students in the annual EV Challenge. We will use the money to purchase a vehicle to convert and to purchase the parts needed to convert the car. This project means so much to us because, even as high school students, we are able to play a part in reducing mankinds environmental impact. We are greatly appreciative of every donation ... [© 2015 GoFundMe] ... https://twitter.com/bvilleevteam Bville EV Challenege @BvilleEVteam http://www.evchallengekids.org ... http://bhs.bentonvillek12.org/pages/Bentonville_HS Bentonville High School 1801 SE J Street Bentonville, AR 72712 | (479) 254-5100 Fax: (479) 271-1184 http://bhs.bentonvillek12.org/pages/Bentonville_HS/Contact For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/AR-HS-student-s-00-Chevy-Malibu-EVchallenge-conversion-seek-gofundme-help-tp4679360.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
