GreenpowerZA, a nonprofit organisation, is hoping to change the way South African children approach the difficult subjects of science and mathematics by teaching them how to design, build and race electric cars.
It hopes to foster an interest among youngsters in engineering and technology.
GreenpowerZA CEO Marinda Jordaan got the idea for the project after being involved in the Sasol Solar Challenge in 2014. The Solar Challenge is held every two years and involves students from tertiary institutions in South Africa and around the world designing and building solar-powered vehicles that they race along a 2 000km route.
“We entered a school in the Sasol Solar Challenge and came sixth in the competition. However, the competition mainly focuses on universities and is very expensive. It costs millions of rand to participate.”
Schools are not able to afford the costs involved. “We wanted a competition that is accessible to schools.”
Jordaan investigated and came across the Greenpower Education Trust project in the UK. Greenpower UK has been running for more than 16 years and includes over 500 schools and 8 000 students each year.”
The project is being launched in South Africa in 2015 for the first time. Jordaan expects 80 schools from four provinces — KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Western Cape and Eastern Cape — to participate. The competition will be rolled out to the remaining five provinces in 2016.
Participating schools must buy a car kit. Two kits are available. The first, the Goblin, is aimed at primary schools and costs R18 000. The second, the F24, is meant for high schools, and fetches R30 000.
Extras can be added to both cars. The kits are being manufactured by South African company Gridcars, which also develops electric vehicles and charging stations and related software for electric cars. This has helped reduce the cost of the kits by over 50% compared to what it would cost to import them from the UK.
Participating schools must create five committees made of teachers and pupils to oversee the development of the project and ensure a vast array of skills are shared. These include committees for public relations and marketing, logistics, finance and fundraising, race execution (essentially, the pit crew), design build and maintenance, and project management.
Jordaan says GreenpowerZA wants to ensure that the project includes learners from underprivileged schools. “We are targeting sponsorships. We hope that some independent schools will also sponsor rural schools. We will participate in regional, national and international championships.”
The national final will take place on 24 September.
“It’s not just about the race — it’s also about the engineering behind it. Constructing the car will help to develop pupils’ skills in science, technology, engineering and maths — the so-called Stem subjects that are so much in demand by many employers.”
She hopes engineering companies or those that need engineering skills will help sponsor the project. — © 2015 NewsCentral Media
