Engineering Club Students Build an Electric Car

As part of one of our enrichments, the engineering club, a group of nine students have been working hard to build and race an electric car powered by a 24V battery. This is in partnership with OneSubSea, a deep-sea engineering firm who are working to make oil and gas extraction more efficient, less wasteful, and ultimately carbon neutral. Students have learned how to build the chassis, connect gears, fit wheels and brakes, secure the safety harness, and wire the batteries to the motor, lights, and horn. 

Matt Hainsworth, who is a physics teacher here at Notre Dame and runs the engineering club, has been guiding the students throughout the process, turning the college undercroft into their very own garage. 

By Mid-March, students were able to test drive all their hard work at the OneSubSea offices on the outskirts of Leeds, with all nine students doing two test laps. Testing has revealed some issues that will be fixed after the Easter holidays, and there are some planned improvements to the gear ratios and the aerodynamics to get higher speeds.

OneSubSea quotes 'The Greenpower F24 programme allows OneSubSea personnel to engage with Notre Dame College students to give practical advice on the construction of the F24 electric car, whilst explaining the engineering concepts behind the car’s design. The students get to build the car with their own hands and then race it against fellow students at UK race circuits. It’s a fun activity which costs nothing more than their spare time.'

The actual race will be on Tuesday 21st May at Croft Circuit in the F24+ competition run by a charity called GreenPower, which is open nationally to ages 16-25. The car that travels the furthest in an hour without running out of power is the winner.

The student have had a great, challenging time throughout the whole process with students quoting -