Fast and the curious: High school students take part in Waterloo EV Challenge

A parking lot at the University of Waterloo became a track on Sunday, as high school students from across the country raced in the Waterloo EV Challenge.

High school students from across Canada gathered at the University of Waterloo on Sunday for the school’s Waterloo Electric Vehicle (EV) Challenge.

The competition gives students the chance to design and build an electric vehicle from scratch before racing them on the track.

Professor Peter Teerstra said the event allows students to explore engineering in a hands-on environment.

“I love the idea of getting that blank sheet of paper, of having a group of students excited about the possibilities,” Teerstra said.

Now in its 15th year, the event originally began with a small group of high schools in Waterloo Region before expanding across Ontario and beyond.

“We were very much southwestern Ontario-based just within the KW region, we’ve now expanded to having teams coming not only from the GTA, but we have a team here from Calgary… so we have teams coming from across the province and out of province,” Teerstra said.

Students competed in two heat races lasting just over an hour, all hoping to secure a spot in the event’s feature race.

John Ali Moglu, president of the Woodlands Automotive Club, said reliability was just as important as speed to earn a spot on the podium.

“Honestly, you need to build something reliable. It doesn’t matter how good your car could theoretically be, it has to be able to consistently perform in the day to day, through rough conditions,” Ali Moglu said.

While his team did not meet its expectations on the track, Ali Moglu said the true prize was won long before hitting the track.

“When I joined this club in Grade 9, I didn’t know anyone,” Ali Moglu admitted. “After spending so much time in late night meetings, building the car, crashing the car together, a lot of suffering together when we have a bad competition… it creates a lot of bonding when you have to go through all these difficulties together."

The year-long project also helped students develop new technical skills.

“I’ve learned so many skills… electrical, assembling, cadding, and it’s just truly been amazing to go with the team and compete,” Caution Tape Robotics driver Daniel Edelstein said.

Even though only one team would be crowned champion, Teerstra said he hopes the competition will continue to inspire students long after they cross the finish line.

“That thought of students getting excited about coming to school and having a reason to be passionate about being at school and being part of the team, [while] having an engineering and fabrication focus to it… it just makes me so excited for the future,” he said.