Lane County middle school students build electric vehicles with EWEB grant

Francesca Soraci learned how to increase momentum in an electric car by putting more weight in the back of the vehicle than in the front. Elise Gomez discovered how to attach the gears to the car. Freya Friese figured out how tight the wheels needed to be on the axis. 

The 13-year-old Spencer Butte Middle School students built their small electric car as part of a multi-school district challenge that culminated in a county-wide competition Thursday at the Lane Events Center. 

The electric vehicle challenge is funded by the EWEB and is managed by Tana Shepard, the K-12 Climate, Energy and Conservation Specialist for Eugene School District 4J.

“For a lot of our students, this is the only hands-on experience they’re actually getting in science,” Shepard said. 

She said the program teaches students about engineering and physics and helps them learn how those concepts might apply to future careers in the green energy industry. 

“And really, we just are hoping that they understand the beauty of electric vehicles versus petroleum vehicles,” Shepard said.

She said the EWEB connection also helps students understand their community better and how they might create change within their communities. The electric vehicle challenge started as the solar challenge nearly 30 years ago.

“We have some teachers that have actually been teaching it that long, and they are very delighted with the progression over time,” Shepard said. 

The competition is one project that is funded by 4J’s partnership with EWEB. Aaron Orlowski, a spokesperson for EWEB, said Eugene 4J, Bethel, Springfield and McKenzie school districts participate in the education grant program. The funds are used to provide memorable, hands-on learning experiences around water, energy, climate, and safety topics. 

Orlowski said the agency’s board recently approved contracts for the next cycle of education grants, and EWEB will provide a total of $481,500 a year to participating districts for the 2025-27 school years.

Shepard said Eugene 4J will receive $312,500 for each of the next two years. In addition to the electric vehicle challenge, the funds support salmon-raising education and a wind energy unit. 

At a time of constrained school budgets, EWEB helps fill the gap. 

“Funding memorable, tactile learning opportunities helps local youth form an understanding of the value of natural resources and a connection to them that can endure into adulthood,” Orlowski said.

On Thursday, the Eugene students came together with middle schoolers from the Bethel, McKenzie and Springfield school districts. Students from other areas in the county were invited as well. In all, about 250 students participated. 

The school districts trained teachers on the project earlier this year and provided them with kits containing motors, gears and wooden and foam board chassis. Teachers then worked the project into their curriculum over several weeks. 

Students formed groups and could choose one of three categories for their vehicle: a speed car, an art concept car or a science concept car. On Thursday, the speed cars raced four at a time in a wooden track in an auditorium. The concept vehicles had to be able to move three feet with the use of a motor. Shepard said the concept categories are for the more “out of the box thinkers” who use their imaginations to create unique vehicles. 

Among the entries in the art category (the theme this year was memories): a replica of a red Volkswagen Beetle, a red wagon with small wooden brooms and glowing orbs, representing the rocket wagon from the Pixar movie Inside Out, and gears on a wooden chassis that turned a conveyor belt of decorated paper representing movie film.  

In the science concept category, one student made a vehicle with traction wheels to drive on ice and called it the Friction Ferrari. Another made the house from the Pixar movie Up, complete with helium balloons and a propeller. 

Judges interviewed each group of students and graded them on their design.