Penn Electric Racing Team

Updates

Check back every once in a while to see what's going on with the team.

2.4.2008
Progress is continuing along. The chassis itself is nearly complete. Seats have been installed; holding for the batteries is completed; motor mounts have been installed; the rear differential casing is ready; the front suspension is designed and about to be implemented. The team is on-track to be racing this spring!

11.8.2007
Last weekend Zach and Matt successfully setup motors, which with a switch can go forwards and backwards thus demonstrating all working components necessary for basic locomotion. Alex has picked up the pace on the chassis, Hal has begun making body panels, and Hans has begun work on the battery boxes. Pace is really picking up!

11.4.2007
The electric subteam is planning to run a test of the major components of the car at 5PM: including motors, motor controllers, contactors etc. Should be a great step forward! Check back at this space for more updates.

5.10.2007

Another promising and challenging year has gone by with Penn Electric Racing. The year was spent doing a large amount of research, data analysis and planning for our new vehicle. Now that the semester has ended and alot of parts have come in, building has begun in earnest.

Our new car is powered by 29 Deep Cycle Lead Acid batteries and two DC electric motors. We hope to have alot of power to blow away the competition! Click here for more updates on build progress

5.12.2006

The team displayed the car at the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Day on May 12th, 2006. One of the greatest rewards of this project is to show off our hard work. Team members were on hand to answer questions about the car and talk about the Tour de Sol. Coincidentally, an article featuring our team was published this day on the front page of the Finance section of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

5.11.2006

On May 9th, the team headed to Saratoga Springs, New York to participate in the annual Tour de Sol. The Tour de Sol, sponsored by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, is an annual event showcasing energy efficient vehicles. We competed alongside commercial hybrids like the Toyota Prius, custom built biodiesel hybrids and other solar vehicle teams.

Although we withdrew early to participate in Penn's Alumni Day, we successfully passed the technical and safety qualification tests and were featured on the front page of three newspapers. Additionally, team members had the opportunity to give tv interviews to CBS and to national environmental organizations.

One of the events in this competition is to make a presentation about the vehicle. Team leader Noël Camacho ran through our middle school outreach presentation. The race officials were extremely impressed by the quality of the presentation and our team's dedication to the community. We work extremely hard so its always great to be complimented on the quality of our work.

5.4.2006

A major part of this team is outreach to the community. In addition to racing, we make sure to bring our current vehicle to local elementary and middle schools. Through this outreach, we aim to inspire tomorrow's leaders to choose degrees in science and technology.

We will present Keystone at six Philadelphia area schools over the next week. This is our second Summer Illumination Tour. The first was held in 2004 and was a tremendous success. Sponsored by Lockheed Martin, the 2004 tour was a seven day road trip west across the state of Pennsylvania. We visited elementary, middle and high school students as well as spending a day at the Pocono International Raceway to test the car.

In fulfilling our objective to reach out to the community, the Summer Illumination Tour has become an annual event. Team members work hard to iron out the logistics of the Tour and the rewards are worth it!