Pupils win Greenpower electric car competition

An electric car built by a group of students from Cornwall has won an international race and set a new competition record.

Richard Lander secondary school in Truro beat more than 100 teams from countries including Brazil and Portugal in the Greenpower international final at Goodwood.

The school's other vehicle took second place in the 90 minute race.

Greenpower said it aimed to get young people enthusiastic about engineering.

The 18 students were challenged to design, build and race electric cars for the project run by UK charity Greenpower Education Trust.

They then compete to cover the furthest distance in 90 minutes.

It is the fifth time Richard Lander School has won the competition consecutively.

Ben Lloyd-King, Greenpower project leader and physics teacher at the school, said the team was "elated" at the success and they were an "absolutely fantastic bunch".

He said they completed 52.4 miles in 90 minutes, which beat the previous record of 50 miles.

Their second car also broke the record with 50.9 miles.

"The cars are very lightweight... with great aerodynamics and we've just kept everything simple really... but I honestly can't say why we've got the margins ahead of the other teams," Mr Lloyd-King said.

"The car that won had a big crash in torrential weather three weeks ago... we thought we might have to write the car off but we rebuilt it... so a really, really pleasing outcome."

Mr Lloyd-King added: "Ten years ago it was a rarity to go in an electric car but it's becoming more and more common, so it's good that they can understand a bit more about how the cars that they will be driving in the future actually work."

Some students involved in the project in previous years said they were inspired to go on to do degrees in motor engineering.

Materials were donated by two local companies; Fibrefusion in Falmouth and Teagle near St Agnes.

Team member Charlie Sisson, 14, said: "It was really, really awesome, it was awesome to see the product of all the hard work."

"Everyone chips in really... I am proud of everyone - the people are amazing," she added.

Merryn Dutson, also 14, said that there was a strong team spirit.

"Everyone absolutely loves doing it. We're here because we enjoy every moment," she said.

Barnabas Selbourne, CEO of organisers Greenpower Education Trust, said the competition had "really grown" in popularity in the south west of England and several teams from Cornwall and Devon had taken part in 2023.

He said: "These students are the next to come up with solutions to sustainable energy and cures for diseases and so on.

"Some have gone on to work for F1 teams and big engineering teams around the world."

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