Mount Vernon High School Electric Vehicle Club with CIPCO-sponsored electric car. Jonathan Peiffer, far right.

When Orville Peiffer’s son, Jonathan, proposed entering the Students Making Advancements in Renewable Transportation Technology (SMARTT) Challenge, Peiffer was skeptical:  the challenge required school support, money and a lot of work. 

But Jonathan was persistent, and in May of this year, student members of the Mount Vernon High School Electric Vehicle Club traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina, where they snagged first place win in the “Range Event – Stock Class” second place in the “Autocross – Stock Class” in the 13th Annual Final Event. 

The team also received second place finishes in Oral Presentation, Technical Design and Website.

The SMARTT Challenge, sponsored by the non-profit Carolina Electric Vehicle Coalition, Inc. (CEVC), integrates several disciplines, including math, science, engineering and language arts, into a contest intended to educate students about alternative fuels.

As the senior Peiffer, an accountant with CIPCO, sees it, the challenge teaches important lessons about planning and following rules.

The CEVC has received national recognition as a recipient of the Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Excellence Award for Education and Outreach.

CIPCO helped sponsor the project, providing money and moral support; however, “we let the kids do as much of the work as possible,” said Peiffer.

The club purchased an ’88 Pontiac Fiero, spied in the salvage yard.  The car needed some serious TLC, but at $300, the price was right. 

The club replaced the combustion engine with 12 8-volt lead-acid batteries. This conversion process generally takes most teams over a year to complete, however the enthusiasm and dedication of the Mount Vernon students allowed this conversion to be completed in six months working over 2500 man-hours. The conversion cost $8000.

The car can be recharged at home and is intended to be street legal and can travel at speeds up to 65 mph for a maximum distance of more than 40 miles per charge.

Hundreds of students from thirty-five schools from North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Iowa and Florida participated in this year’s challenge.

Mrs. Mary Young, Mount Vernon High School program coordinator for this project expressed the school’s vast appreciation for CIPCO’s contribution in sponsoring this project. “It’s truly been a dream come true for some of these kids.”

Even though Jonathan Peiffer is heading to Purdue University to study electrical engineering in the fall, Mount Vernon High School Electric Vehicle Club plans to participate again next year.