Students ready for competition

By JENNIFER NEJMAN
Collegian Staff Writer

Mishaps and problems that occur during the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) American Tour de Sol race will test the capabilities of the Electric Lion as well as the mettle of Penn State students.

"Everybody has to be a jack of all trades," said Bob Bartholomew, president of the Society of Automotive Engineers. "You have to be on the fly and ready to go."

Adjustments and repairs must be made on the race route using present resources, he added.

Usually two students ride in the car and others follow in a support vehicle not entered in the contest. Bartholomew said the race greatly differs from NASCAR or track racing. "We're not breaking speed laws or anything," he said. "We follow traffic laws."

But students have the joy of watching their blue station wagon operate in an actual driving situation, instead of doing test runs around State College.

Last year, the Electric Lion led the pack for the first three days of the event -- holding steady on the pole position -- until car trouble hit, Bartholomew said. Despite the problems, the team still finished third.

The Tour de Sol, an eight-day road rally event for electric vehicles, was started in 1989 by the NESEA of Greenfield, Mass. The event has grown to showcase about 50 cars and along the course, vehicles stop to present public displays, according to NESEA's World Wide Web site (www.nesea.org/index97.html).

Joel Anstrom, graduate coordinator for the project, said the Electric Lion team has the opportunity to gain knowledge that cannot be acquired from classes.

"What students get out of the project is hands-on experience and awareness of the technology," Anstrom said. "They learn how to work on a big project."

This project has been running since 1992, Bartholomew said, explaining the budget for this year is about $40,000. After this year, the Electric Lion will no longer be used as a hybrid electric racing vehicle, Bartholomew said.

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