The Newburgh Free Academy competed in an eco-car competition in England earlier this month after finishing at the top of a regional competition involving teams from all over the Americas in April.
The Newburgh Free Academy Concept Vehicle Racing Team, composed of 13 students, designed and built a fully electric urban concept vehicle.
Concept vehicles had to be more road-safe than prototype vehicles, which were judged almost exclusively on their fuel efficiency. Vehicles were further divided into categories like electric-battery, diesel, hydrogen, gasoline, and alternative fuels like ethanol.
The competition was designed to measure the most energy-efficient car, not the fastest nor the longest running.
The first competition they competed in took place in Detroit from April 22 to 24 with 124 teams from universities, colleges, and high schools in the United States, Canada, and Central and South America.
The Newburgh team took 2nd place at that competition, earning them a place in the Shell Eco-marathon Drivers’ World Championship in London from June 30 to July 3.
There they competed against 23 teams from all over the world: Asia, Europe, North and South America—and took 16th place. Spain’s ECO-DIMONI car won the battery-electric category with 464.3 miles per kilowatt hour.
Chris Eachus, one of the team’s mentors, a former teacher at the academy, and a county legislator running for state senate, said he was proud that they made it as far as they did.
“The entire Newburgh community, and the greater Hudson Valley, should be thrilled at how our students handled the pressure of this competition, and how they proved that we as a region are ready to lead the way on green technology,” Eachus said in a press release.
The Newburgh Free Academy is a high school in the Newburgh Enlarged City School District.
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