The Northampton Electric Auto Rally begins its 16th year Friday.
It is a two-day event in which the focus is on electric-powered vehicles, said Harold Miller, the father of Northampton County High School’s electric vehicle program.
“It’s based on an educational philosophy,” Miller said this week. “It was a cross-curriculum activity to have a hands-on project and have the kids use their brains to come up with better ideas on transportation.”
Miller now serves as a liaison for the program, which is now taught by Thomas Pope.
Over those 16 years, Miller has seen the program and its practical applications grow, especially among the national automakers. “I can probably say I told you so. I always wanted them to do it faster than they have. It’s going to take that to meet our national energy needs,” he said. “I think the biggest obstacle is people are afraid of change.”
One of the focuses of this year’s rally, Miller said, is a focus on the lithium ion battery, with a presentation by North Wilkesboro and Topsail high schools.
“These batteries have broken the barrier between gas and electric and are one-third the weight of lead, holding three times as much energy,” said Miller.
For electric vehicles, they are cheaper to charge and can run 100 miles on a dollar’s worth of electricity.
The batteries aren’t new, Miller explained. “They’ve been using them in computers. The Prius uses them. One of the things they’ll be talking about is the makers of all kinds of trucks will be having them on them. Semis can have them and increase gas mileage. A lot of utility trucks will be coming out with that. There’ll be a lot of good information.”
The rally gets under way Friday at 9 a.m. and will run through 4 p.m. at the North Carolina Center for Automotive Research between Gaston and Garysburg on Highway 46.
On Saturday the event runs from 9 a.m. to noon.
Approximately 60 students from across the local area, the state and Virginia will be participating. “We’ll have our autocross which is how well the cars handle and do our range event on how far they go.”
There will also be a pit crew contest and there will be a Jeopardy-based science and technology contest as well as the battery seminar and one on new technology coming out in hybrid vehicles.
The rally is also a prelude to spring championships, Miller said, and there will be a design contest to test students on how cars are built. “You can see what the high schools have.”
Topsail will bring an electric MR2 and Nissan sports car while Northampton will bring Shocker, which was originally built in 1997. “It’s been updated every year,” Miller said.
The Friday schedule is as follows:
A safety class starts at 9:30 a.m. on the second floor conference room
The autocross runs from 10:30 a.m. to noon
The pit crew contest starts at 1:15 p.m.
The Jeopardy contest starts at 2:30 p.m.
The acceleration contest starts at 3:30 p.m.
The Saturday schedule is as follows:
Troubleshooting contest begins at 9 a.m.
The range event begins at 10:15 a.m.
Awards will be from noon to 1 p.m.
