WASHINGTON — They lined the tiny vehicles up on the race track – side by side – teams frantically doing last minute adjustments to equipment. Then, with more of a whine than a roar, they were off!
The 2015 Washington DC Electric Vehicle Grand Prix was Saturday at RFK Stadium, with excited participants like Sekou Jackson of Dunbar High School in the District racing for distance, not speed.
“I’m driving,” the 16-year-old says proudly. “But the car isn’t working right.”
He showed WTOP the complicated interior, the throttle on the steering wheel, and the safety equipment included to keep the high school students safe. But Jackson says they are more difficult to drive than regular cars.
“It’s so small you have to react quick,” he explains.
“This is critically important to their development during high school,” says Ted Trabue, managing director of the District of Columbia’s Sustainable Energy Utility. “They’re learning about science and technology, and they’re learning skills that will take them into the future.
Londell Gary, captain of the student team at Friendship Colligiate Academy, agrees. He says he didn’t get a chance to drive Saturday.
“Too tall,” Gary laughs. But he says he did learn some important things. “I could be an engineer, and learn to wire things and solder things together.”
That, he says, could lead to a lucrative career.
WTOP’s Allison Keyes contributed to this report.
