Cicero, NY - An electric car built by Cato-Meridian high school students won the CNY Electrathon Challenge today.
Event coordinator Chris Hurd said Cato-Meridian's electric-powered race car went 19.75 miles -- or 79 laps -- in one hour on the quarter-mile track at Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Teams from Baldwinsville and C-NS finished in a tie for second. Cars from Cazenovia High School finished third and fourth.
Hurd said the cars had a top speed of about 35 mph. Staff photographer John Berry displays a photo gallery from the CNY Electrathon Challenge held at Cicero-North Syracuse.
Endurance Wins The Race: Students juiced for
electric car racing Saturday
Event coordinator Chris Hurd said Cato-Meridian's electric-powered race car went 19.75 miles -- or 79 laps -- in one hour on the quarter-mile track at Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Teams from Baldwinsville and C-NS finished in a tie for second. Cars from Cazenovia High School finished third and fourth.
Hurd said the cars had a top speed of about 35 mph. Staff photographer John Berry displays a photo gallery from the CNY Electrathon Challenge held at Cicero-North Syracuse.
Fritz Koennecke has only had his driver's license three months. But on Saturday, the 16-year-old will be behind the wheel under the lights at Oswego Speedway, on a racetrack where up to 15,000 spectators have gathered to watch cars race at top speeds at the so-called "Indy of the East."
The Cazenovia High School junior will drive an electric car he helped build, design and maintain in the New York Electrathon's inaugural competition on the three-eighths mile "short track" configuration of the historic lakeside oval.
The sport, which has been popular in other states for years, is picking up speed in Central New York, with high school students from Cazenovia, Cato-Meridian, Cicero-North Syracuse, Auburn, Baldwinsville, Cortland, Phoenix and West Genesee participating in various events.
The single-person vehicles are designed, built and maintained by the students, and the races have adopted the rules and safety standards of NASCAR races. The electric cars generally cruise around 30 mph, but can reach speeds of up to 60 mph.
For Saturday's race, endurance is the key: Teams will compete to see how many laps they can complete in one hour. That means making sure the car's two 12-volt batteries can go the distance. Students at Cazenovia have spent their free time trying to make their cars lighter, changing gears and tires to make the vehicles as efficient as possible. Each team consists of two drivers and a pit crew of two to five students. Halfway through the race, the teams will change drivers, strapping a second student behind the wheel as the pit crew does a safety check.
Cazenovia got involved in the racing scene five years ago, when a group of seniors asked technology teacher Chris Hurd if they could build an electric car as their senior project. A year later, the team took first place at a competition in Connecticut...
John Berry / The Post-Standard
Cicero-North Syracuse High School plans to build the region's first hydrogen fuel cell car using a $12,500 grant from the Carrier Corp.'s parent company.
Cicero-North Syracuse High School
Saturday, May 10th, 10:00am to 3:00pm EVENT CANCELLED IF IT RAINS!
Come and see electric cars designed and built by high school students compete! Students race around a given track, and try to make as many laps as possible. Efficiency, not speed, is king, and the cars will average about 30mph. NO GASOLINE OR FOSSIL FUELS ALLOWED! Electric Only!
NY Electrathon was started by Chris Hurd and Cazenovia HS in 2005, and is now made up of teams from all across the state that have designed and built Electric Race Cars. The goal of Electrathon is to provide a learning experience that will build public awareness of the capabilities and potential of efficient electric vehicles. Developed around specific rules designed to keep cost down and competition high, these unique vehicles offer an opportunity and challenge to experiment, learn, and compete. NY Electrathon is made up of teams from:
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-Auburn (CNY) 2009
-Baldwinsville (CNY)
-Cato Meridian (CNY)
-Cazenovia (CNY)
-Cicero North Syracuse (CNY)
-Cortland City Schools (CNY)
-Irondiquoit HS (Rochester area)
-Ithaca (CNY)
-New Hartford (CNY)
-Newburgh Free Academy (Orange County)
-Oswego County BOCES Phoenix (CNY)
-Pittsford Mendon (Rochester area) Somers HS -(Westchester)
-Sweet Home, (Buffalo area)
Teams in bold will have students attending, teams in red will be racing!
There will be over 200 people attending, and for more info, contact Chris Hurd at 315.635.2700 or 315.655.1370 or churd@ caz.cnyric.org.
-Insurance Issues For NY Electrathon Events-
The second necessity is to have a registration form filled out for each event. These will be available for download as soon as the calendar of events are set. To see an example of a form from last year, check here.
Any questions, please email Chris Hurd, or post a question in the forum. Click here to sign up for the forums.
Entries are now being accepted for the May 3 event’s unique time-speed-distance road rally through the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of Central New York. The rally is the only road rally for alternate fueled vehicles and hybrids in the United States sponsored by the Sports Car Club of America.
The SCCA has a long association with world-renowned Watkins Glen, which is marking 60 years of competitive racing.
This year’s 4th Annual Green Grand Prix is hosted by the International Motor Racing Research Center, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2008.
The rally over miles of scenic roadways is one of the highlights of the daylong Green Grand Prix, based in downtown Watkins Glen at the Racing Research Center. After they return to the village, rally drivers and their navigators will join the public in a variety of educational activities throughout the afternoon.
The Doris Bovee Memorial Road Rally is named in memory of a well-known area environmentalist. Bovee taught for many years in the Corning-Painted Post Area School District and was known for her love of plants and birds. She also was involved with SCCA road rallies and was part of the Glen Region SCCA at its inception.
The rally brings together a diverse mix of hybrid and alternate fueled vehicles, AFVs, and their owners, businesses promoting renewable energy and related products, environmental groups, students and faculty members from elementary to university level and the general public.
“This fun and exciting educational event emphasizes energy independence and a cleaner environment,” said Green Grand Prix founder Robert Gillespie, an area artist and hybrid owner who is passionate about increasing awareness of the vehicles.
“The Green Grand Prix gives people an opportunity to learn first-hand about alternative personal transportation and renewable energy initiatives. It’s quite fulfilling to see how it grows in scope and size each year,” Gillespie said.
Corporate entries in the 2007 road rally included Toyota, Lexus, Honda, General Motors, Ford, the Indy Racing League, the Windshield Installation Network, Autoglass Insurance Co., Magi LLC and the Ethanol Promotion Information Council, EPIC.
In addition to hybrid and flexible fuel vehicles, organizers expect many other interesting AFVs, including a hydrogen-powered car, a wood-powered SUV and a vegetable oil-powered car, as well cars fueled by bio-diesel, electricity, LP and compressed natural gas.
Cars begin the rally at the historic Glen Motor Inn on Route 14 north of Watkins Glen. The rally is conducted at legal highway speeds.
All afternoon activities are centered at the Racing Research Center on South Decatur Street, including at adjacent facilities of the Watkins Glen Central School District.
The Wayne Technical and Career Center in Williamson, N.Y., will be bringing its student-made portable energy lab, which includes solar panels and a wind generator. Also featured will be an Electrathon electric race car from Baker High School in Baldwinsville, N.Y. 
Organizers are expecting exhibited cars to include an electric vehicle built in 1914.
A panel discussion will address a host of sustainability issues, and Cornell University’s X-Prize Team, which has been working on a 100 mpg mass-producible car, is expected to do a presentation on its project.
Winners of the AFV design contest for young students, now in its third year, will receive their awards, as will participants in the morning road rally.
The Racing Research Center staff will be giving tours of the Center and discussing their work preserving the history of motorsports. The Center collects all types of materials on all series of racing and at all tracks, worldwide.
“Our partnership with the Green Grand Prix this year is a natural,” Center Director of Archives & Administration Mark Steigerwald said. “Our archives clearly show how racing – and therefore transportation – has evolved over the decades. The innovative people who took the risks 100 years ago are the forerunners of the people we see participating in the Green Grand Prix each year.”
For complete details about the Green Grand Prix, visit its Web site at www.greengrandprix.com. Registration information for the Doris Bovee Memorial Road Rally is available there.
Learn more about the International Motor Racing Research Center at its Web site, www.racingarchives.org. The Glen Region of the SCCA has its Web site at www.glen-scca.org.
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