Ready for the NEAT Rally

Our vehicles are loaded up and on their way to the NEAT Rally in Northampton County, NC, thanks to the transportation graciously donated by Blue Water Motorsports.  We also received generous donations from H.H. Gregg, Food Lion, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods.

A special thanks to Greg, Roy, and all the folks at Blue Water Motorsports.

 We have installed a new electric heating system in our truck that should keep the windows frost-free this fall.

Brandon extracting the blower motor from a donor truck.

 One final step was to install the J1772 charging port on the car, which works with the charging station donated by Schneider Electric.

The port is cleverly hidden in the vent; you can use a regular household outlet with the plug under the fuel door.

The EVlink charging station, powered on and charging the MR2.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Our new school year is now underway, and one of our first tasks was to lead the homecoming parade.

Although the game didn't turn out in our favor, the vehicles were a big hit, especially the new lighting system we have added to the car.

We are busy adding a similar system to the truck, and hope to have another surprise in store before this weekend's Spot Festival.

We hope to have both vehicles in top condition before our first competition, the NEAT rally at NCCAR on October 18-19.

Earth Day Celebration - EV Style

We are here live at the Wilmington Earth Day Celebration at Hugh McRae Park until 6PM.  Come out and visit us - the festival is free and there is a free shuttle from the Cinema 6 on Oleander Dr.

10 Time Champions!

We competed in the EV Challenge this weekend (April 12-14), winning First Place Overall for the 10^th consecutive year. The car finished first place overall, and the truck won second place overall.  Also, Steve Garrett was named the new Executive Director of the EV Challenge.

Detailed Results are as follows:

1^st Place Overall, 1991 Toyota MR2

2^nd Place Overall, 2001 Ford Ranger

1^st Place, Modifided Class

1^st Place, Truck Class

1^st Place, School Initiative

1^st Place, Troubleshooting

1^st Place, Jeopardy, Truck Team

2^nd Place, Jeopardy, Car Team

1^st Place, Oral Presentation, Car team

2^nd Place, Oral Presentation, Truck Team

1^st Place, Vehicle Design, Modified Class

2^nd Place, Vehicle Design, Truck Class

1^st Place, Autocross, Truck Class

2^nd Place, Autocross, Modified Class

1^st Place, Range, Modified Class

1^st Place, Range, Truck Class

2^nd Place, Acceleration, Truck Class

3^rd Place, Acceleration, Modified Class

A VERY special thanks to Ron Latronico and Kenny Sessions for towing our vehicles to the event!

That's a BIG trophy!

Coupler, Battery Boxes, and Charger

The past two weeks have been very busy in the EV shop, as we are working on all three vehicles at the same time.  We still have much to do, but are on track to finish in time for the EV Challenge next month.

The coupler to mate the electric motor with the transmission has been machined by Mr. Sholar at Cape Fear Community College.  The next step is to install the motor.

The new coupler

Thank-you cake.

Also, the battery boxes and heaters are being installed in the Volkswagen.  Next, we will install the cells and wire everything up.

Bolting in the rear battery box.

Matt wiring the battery heaters.

With the Ranger, we have mounted the new charger.  It will be back on the road as soon as the controller is repaired.

Brady securing the charger.

EV Raffle time!! $2500 in prizes!

The Topsail EV Team is holding their annual Fall EV Raffle, and this year is better than ever! Over $2500 in prizes and a 1 in 8 chance of winning. If you win a smaller prize, you still get your name put back in for the Grand Prize drawing of an iPad 2. We will have an EV open house on the day of the drawing, December 20th at 5:30pm at the EV shop behind Topsail High School.


You u can buy a ticket from one of the EV students. The price is one for $10 or three for $25.
 Thanks for your support.
*PRIZES*
IPad 2-$400.00
Indo Jax Surf School-Week-long Morning Surf Camp $300.00
Lyons Sushi Party $250.00
2- Golds Gym 3 Month Memberships  $360.00
Bugs Etc. House Extermination Service $150.00
Music Loft Gift Card $100.00
Olde Point Golf Round of Golf for 2 Players $84.00
Finesse Carpet Cleaning $75.00
2- Golds Gym 1 Month Memberships $120.00
Ohana Paddle Sports 4 Hour Board Rental and 1 Hour Lesson $60.00
Napa Auto Parts Socket Set $50.00
Autozone Car wash bucket kit $30.00
Advance Auto Parts Car wash bucket kit $30.00
Belvedere Country Club Round of Golf $30.00
Shuckers Oyster Bar Gift Card $25.00
Shuckers Oyster Bar Gift Card $25.00
5- O'Leary's Automotive Repair Gift Certificates $125.00
Daddy Macs Gift Certificate $25.00
4- Topsail Greens Round of Golf $88.00
Finkelstein's Gift Card $20.00
El Cerro Grande Gift Card $20.00
Max's Pizza Large Pizza $15.00
2- 2 Guys Grille Gift Certificates $20.00
Hibachi To Go Gift Card $10.00
South End Surf Shop Gift Card $10.00
3- Bagel Bakery Gift Certificates $15.00
Yozio Gift Certificate $5.00

WECT TV 6 News report

Bailey Hicks from Wilmington local channel WECT TV6 came early this morning to do a feature story on our EV program.  She was very impressed with the class and their knowledge of the vehicles.  She was especially impressed by the fact that the EV13 Team attends the class every day at 7:15, an hour before regular school begins.  We were able to give a few interviews and explain how we were preparing for the NEAT competition next week.  Davis Sessions and Matt van der Wal did an excellent job in front of the camera.  Bailey was very interested in the performance of the vehicles, so we did not hesitate to take her for a spin in the MR2.  As you can tell by the picture above, she definitely has an "EV Grin"!

There will be an update after the segment airs that will link to the story online.  Stay tuned.

Homecoming

Every year at the homecoming game, we get the opportunity to lead the homecoming court around the track during halftime.  This year we had both vehicles and were announced over the public address system in front of a crowd of over 2500 people.  Sometimes exposure like this is invaluable.  It is the first time younger kids or visitors get to see the EV's in action.  Hopefully we are planting the seeds for the future.  Very proud to be associated with the THE EV program and the students that help make it possible each year.

NEAT EV Rally results

The Topsail Electric Vehicle Team travelled to the 17th annual NEAT EV Rally in Northampton County this past weekend at the NCCAR facility. The students competed in seven events and tied for first place overall in the competition. The team had many compliments for their attitude and work ethic. They represented Topsail High and Pender County with class and dignity...as always. One instructor even wanted to take Ryan Mowrey back with him to show his students how to act!  The weather cooperated for the most part, and the vehicles performed very well.  Our truck, nursing a battery with a bad cell was only able to manage 12 laps of the NCCAR 2 mile track.  The Toyota MR2 drove 56 miles in the range and could have travelled another 25 miles but had won the event.  The lithium batteries make a huge difference in the range and performance of the car. 
  We would like to congratulate the NEAT team for their results and thank them and their instructor Thomas Pope, along with Harold Miller, for putting on a fine event.  We look forward to next year!  We will practice the pit crew before the event this time.

The results were as follows:
First overall
Acceleration: First Ranger
Acceleration: First MR2
Range: Second Ranger
Range: First MR2
Design: First MR2
Autocross: First Ranger
Autocross: First MR2
Jeopardy competition: Second

Battery problem!

On a routine check of the batteries in the truck, we discovered a slight problem.  The students had learned how to use a refractometer to check the specific gravity of the lead acid cells to determine the state of each cell in comparison to the rest of the pack.  The results found the 14 month old US Battery US145xc batteries were within a few tenths of each other except for one cell was considerably lower than the rest.  Upon checking it out further, we noticed the water level was lower as well, even though we had topped them off the day before.  We also noticed that there was a considerable amount of oxidation underneath the battery box below where the battery in question was.

  We removed the battery to find that it had been leaking around the side seal near the top of the battery.  We contacted Fred Wehmeyer at US Batteries and he suggested we try to fix the leak by melting the side where the seal was broken, and if that did not work, he would try to get the battery replaced under warranty since it had been leaking since the day we installed them.  The fix did not work, so Fred contacted Larry at Battery Specialists in Greenville, SC, a distributor, and arranged for us to have the battery replaced.  Larry assured us that we would have the battery before our event on November 4th!  Stay tuned.

Classy Chassis car show at Poplar Grove

Today the truck had the opportunity to show off at a local classic car show, the Classy Chassis Car Show at Poplar Grove in Wilmington.  The show was rained out for Saturday and we had to cancel, but thanks to Ryan Mowrey and his family, we were able to show the truck today for most of the show.  Ryan and his brother Mike, a former EV team member from several years ago, picked up the truck and drove it to the show where they were already showing Ryan's classic pick up truck.  Needless to say, there were plenty of questions from a crowd that is not used to vehicles that don't make any noise!

2010 NEAT EV Rally Champions!

After two days of competitions, the THS EV11 Team came out victorious.  Capturing first place overall and 10 other trophies made the event our most sucessful ever.  Here were our team results:
First Overall Champion
First, Autocross- Truck class: Joseph Graves
First, Acceleration- Modified class: Tony Capace
First, Acceleration- Truck class: Kevin Mullins
First, Troubleshooting- Stephen Henderson, Sean Bullock
Second, Autocross- Modified class: Sean Bullock
Second, Pit Crew- Alexis Demetrious, Joey Godfrey, Zeke Hartner, Joseph Graves
Second, Jeopardy Challenge: Alexis Demetrious, Sal Castoro
Second, Poster Presentation: Chris Raynor, Sal Castoro

Second, Range- Modified class: Joey Godfrey, Tony Capace
Second, Range- Truck class: Todd Lemaster, Alexis Demetrious

Hampstead Kiwanis presentation

Our EV Team had an opportunity to present our program and fundraising initiative to the Hampstead Kiwanis club early this morning.  If the picture looks dark, it is because the sun had not yet risen! We were the featured guest and a wonderful breakfast was provided by Sawmill Grill.  Sean and Stephen spoke to the group with a prepared speech and then opened the floor for questions.  The Kiwanians were very impressed and had excellent questions that continued when they viewed the Ranger and MR2 outside after the meeting adjourned.  We were able to sell our raffle tickets after the presentation.  With over 25 tickets sold, the meeting was prosperous for our fundraising as well as community awareness of our EV program

Topsail Kiwanis presentation

Our EV Team had an opportunity to present our program and fundraising initiative to the Topsail Island Kiwanis club this morning.  We were the featured guest and a wonderful breakfast was provided.  Sean and Stephen spoke to the group with a prepared speech and then opened the floor for questions.  The Kiwanians were very impressed and had excellent questions that continued when they viewed the Ranger and MR2 outside after the meeting adjourned.  We were able to sell our raffle tickets after the presentation.  With over fifty tickets sold, the meeting was prosperous for our fundraising as well as community awareness of our EV program.

ACE Hardware display and fundraiser

Saturday was a beautiful day for informing the community about our EV program.  We had both the Ranger and the MR2 on display at Hampstead ACE Hardware where we sold raffle tickets and displayed our award winning vehicles.  Thanks for the students who took valuable time out of their schedule to help.  We have an excellent dedicated group this year.  With only 12 students, everyone has to step up and do their share...often.  Many raffle tickets were sold, especially by Todd, our salesman of the day!

New back glass graphics!!

Finally, we can drive around with the distinction of having an official Electric Vehicle!  Well, actually, Empire Signs and Designs has made our vehicles official by donating perforated graphics for our back glass on each vehicle stating "Topsail High School Electric Vehicle".  This is a huge step in the promotion of our program by allowing us to be recognized as an EV when we are out in public or on the street.  Our next step will be to put sponsor stickers on the Ranger.  Thanks to Joe at Empire Graphics for his design and installation.

Raffle, Raffle, Raffle. Anyone want a Raffle Ticket?

Buy our raffle tickets!! We will be selling them until December 17th when we have the drawing for several prizes including a $2800 Tempur-pedic cloud supreme mattress. Please contact us if you would like to purchase them online.  They are 1 for $5 or 3 for $10.

Homecoming 2010

The electric Ranger and Mr2 led the homecoming parade at halftime Saturday night.  Also, we had a member of the homecoming court ride in our electric Miata.  I think this would be the first time an electric vehicle was used by a student on a homecoming court!  We were also selling raffle tickets at the game.  Make sure you contact us if you would like to purchase them.  1 for $5 or 3 for $10.

Spot Festival 2010 display

The EV 11 team has spent two days displaying the EV's at the 2010 Hampstead Spot Festival.  Thousands of visitors stopped by for fun, festivities and a Spot fish dinner.  We had hundreds of very interested visitors stop by our display for information on our project.  This event is the largest one we have locally, and it draws quite a crowd.  Our push this year was to inform of how we intend to raise funds for a Lithium battery transplant in the MR2.  Hopefully, we can raise enough money to buy a new Lithium battery pack.

A day full of display

Friday was a busy day for the EV class.  The entire Pender County Schools employees came to Topsail High School for the beginning of school Convocation.  Over 900 employees got a chance to see the EV's and ask questions as they made their way into THS for their day of meetings.  Sal was the early bird and did a great job showing the vehicles to anyone who stopped by.

  Later, we showed all three EV's at the football game against Trask.  We positioned the vehicles so that everyone entering the game had to walk by them.  Most people stopped and asked questions and were very positive about our program.