New Teams

Become an ElectroRally Team

It's Fun. Design, build and race your own electric car? Not many students ever get the chance to learn this much and have a great time doing it. Sure, it's a lot of work, but the knowledge, experience and team building skills you'll gain will be something you'll never forget. And who knows, you could be a state champion.

Thrill of Competition. Tired of being told your school is too small, too big, too remote? Not at the Kansas ElectroRally. All schools compete head to head. It's your chance to test your skills against the best young minds in Kansas.

Environmental Awareness. We all know that fossil fuels won't be around forever. Becoming an ElectroRally team will increase your environmental awareness, teach you about issues with burning fuels, and most importantly, that there are viable alternative solutions. Your increased awareness can help affect change with teachers, parents and your community.

The Electric Car Is Here. Have you heard or read about the EV1? It's General Motors new electric car, and it's here. While you can't buy one in Kansas yet, you may sometime soon. ElectroRally teams will be exposed to and learn more about electric car technology. You'll learn how it works. You'll get hands-on experience. You'll know more than 99% of the population about electric car technology.

Get a Scholarship (or a job). That's right. All ElectroRally participants with a 3.5 GPA are automatically eligible for engineering scholarships at Kansas State University, the University of Kansas and Wichita State University. Even if you don't quite have the grades or engineering isn't where you want to go, the world of electricity provides many exciting career paths you might want to follow.

It's a Team Thing. We call it "Multi-disciplinary Involvement." What that means is you can get a lot of different students with different interests involved in the same project. The most well-rounded ElectroRally teams include students from classes in electricity, industrial arts (mechanics, welding, etc.), drafting/CADCAM, math, science, design, business, public speaking, journalism, theater and drama. Your team will need knowledge in all these areas to be successful.

Doesn't Cost Much. Really. Some ElectroRally teams spend as little as $400 total. Now, if you get a good fund raising plan together or have access to grant money, your team can spend up to $2000 on the project. But if you're a little creative and willing to find efficient ways to solve problems, you can be very successful on very little money (this site helps with fund raising ideas).

Fund Raising, Project Planning, Written Reports. At first glance those may not look like great reasons to become an ElectroRally team. But when you're applying for admission to colleges and later on, jobs, experience in these areas looks very good to admission counselors and employers.

Community Involvement. Becoming an ElectroRally team provides you and your school a great opportunity to build "partnerships" in your community. In most communities, local electric utility personnel will help with design and support of the electric car. You may need donations and volunteers and you'll probably look to people and businesses in your community for help. Being an ElectroRally team is also a great way to showcase the technology side of your school and community.