Phase 1 of the registration process for the 2016 Shell Eco Marathon Americas begins!

Design and development work continues for ways to improve efficiency of our prototype vehicles. 

Hello everyone! The first phase of the registration process for the Shell Eco Marathon Americas has begun! During this phase teams basically just provide some fairly basic information about themselves and making sure they meet all the requirements for the competition! We have provided Shell with the majority of the required information and plan to finish up the first phase by next week! 

What are we ACTUALLY doing though? We've spent some very serious time lately trying to develop a way to completely detach the powered wheel from the sprocket and motor. We came up with this idea towards the end of last year, and after careful consideration, are now beginning to produce prototype models. Here's a look at what we've got so far!

Hello everyone!

All schools in the EVSC are now out for summer break. Although our school may be out of session for the summer, we will still be working over the summer. We plan on performing some vigorous tests with both the electric and ethanol cars to try and improve our fuel economy. We also plan on experimenting with a new brushless electric hub motor for the electric car over the summer. As our Ethanol and Electric teams work on refining and improving those two cars, our "Grizzly 1" team will continue design work for the new car we have in development. Once we have a basis for our design, we will begin working on the physical aspect of things. The team hopes to have the outer shell, or body, started by the end of the summer. Be sure to continue to check both this website and our facebook page throughout the summer for updates on our progress!

Wish Us Luck!

Hello everyone! We would like to personally thank everyone who came to the Open House last night, as well as everyone who has supported us all together this year. This year has been a very successful and eventful year for our team and has showed that we are capable of achieving great things! We learned a lot throughout the course of this year, and are extremely proud of the cars that we have created, and the results we got from each! Again, thank you all for all of your support. We wouldn't be able to do this without you!

Our trip to Detroit, MI for SEM (Shell Eco Marathon) 2015, was a huge success! Four members of our team arrived Wednesday to attend a round table style discussion over renewable energy and the future of automobiles. 

Then, Thursday afternoon, the rest of the team arrived with both cars and all of our equipment. We got hard at work Thursday night to prepare both Bear Two (Ethanol) and Bear Three (Electric) for technical inspection Friday morning.

Friday morning we got both cars through technical inspection fairly early, but in doing so, we discovered that both cars had several issues. Working tirelessly all day Friday, the team pushed to resolve these issues and pass technical inspection. At around 5:00 PM, we managed to get both cars passed through technical inspection. Each car then had the chance to have one quick run on the indoor practice track. 

Throughout the weekend, we got 5 very successful runs from the Electric Car, and 2 successful runs with the Ethanol car. As far as unsuccessful runs, we were fortunate enough not to have any with the electric car, but the ethanol car ended up with 2 unsuccessful runs. On the first one, the car ran into some engine problems and could not start back up after coasting. On the second one, the rear hub actually completely broke and was un-repairable. We ended up borrowing a hub from another team to finish our last run.

Both cars performed really well over all. Bear Two placed 7th out of 30, and Bear Three placed 6th out of 28. This is a huge improvement over last year's results for both cars. 

Thanks for all of the support from our numerous sponsors, team members, and family.

(Pictures Will be Uploaded to the Gallery Page as Soon as Possible. Videos Will be Uploaded to YouTube.)

With only 3 days left until we head to Detroit, the pressure is on to finish the cars and have them ready to compete! Over the weekend, we got the following done:

1. New Decals Put On
2. Front Hydraulic Brakes Bled and Fixed
3. New Rear Hatch Attachment System Attached to Top
4. Ethanol Motor Set in Place, To Be Welded in Today
5. Rear Mechanical Brakes Almost Finished

We're getting very close to having both Bear Two, and Bear Three ready for Detroit! Here's some pictures of the new decals to tide you over!

That's right! We only have 6 days left until we head off to Detroit! Because we have such a short amount of time left, we've really been working hard to get both of the cars done. Today, we worked until about 8PM. Here's a short list of the things we got done:

1. Steering for Ethanol Car is completely finished, aligned, and working.
2. Brakes for Ethanol Car are on and working great.
3. All steering parts for Battery Electric car have been welded, and will be put on tomorrow. (Steering for that car should be completely installed tomorrow, however, alignment will have to wait)
4. We've developed a new way to hold the rear engine access hatch to the rest of the body, which should be test-fit tomorrow.
5. Decals should arrive tomorrow and will most likely be put on Monday or Tuesday. 
6. Spacers were created for the rear axle on the Ethanol Car.
7. Mounts for the Ethanol Motor were created and finalized today. It will be welded in either Friday or Saturday.
8. All wheels were re-wrapped for aerodynamics. 
9. Top for Battery Electric Car was test-fit today and some minor trimming was done to allow it to seat properly.
10. Mechanical Brake system was decided for the Ethanol Car. Should be installed by Saturday.

Here's a gallery with pictures of some of the work in process. We should post here at least one more time before we leave, and hopefully we will have multiple posts here while we are in Detroit updating everyone on what we are doing.

Hey Everyone!

The clothing store is open again, however, it won't be open for very long! You have a little less than two weeks to get anything you want ordered. 

We would like all members to purchase a short sleeve t-shirt for pictures. The preferred color is dark grey, however, white is also okay. If you think you will have trouble being able to purchase a shirt, please get in touch with Mr. Lamey.

Link to Online Store

*The Store Closes March 31st at Midnight*

Students and Parent's Going to Detroit,

Hopefully all of you were able to attend tonight's parent meeting. We discussed the final expenses of the trip, at what time we will be leaving, means of transportation, final decal design for the new bodies, and answered any questions parents had about the trip. Here's a quick list of some important information that anyone going to Detroit may need to know:

1. The final fee for students is $75, which should be turned in sometime before we leave. (You can send additional money with your child if you'd like, however, it is very unlikely that they will spend it. Three meals per day are provided by Shell in the convention center)
2. We plan on leaving from Central around 5:30 AM Thursday, April 9th. (We will stay together and start heading towards I-69 where we will meet up with Mr. Lamey and continue towards Detroit. The trip will take about 7 and a half hours.)
3. Anyone who is not sure where they are riding yet, or who they are riding with should get in contact with Mr. Lamey to decide on that.

With only 23 days left until we leave, we need to make sure that everyone understands the importance of the deadlines you will see approaching over the next couple of weeks. There will be permission slips from the EVSC which will be sent home at the end of this week for parents to fill out. It would be ideal if these were turned back in by the middle of the week after spring break. Finally, team merchandise (clothing) sales will re-open tomorrow for an estimate of two weeks. Anyone who has not ordered anything yet needs to be sure and do that within the next couple of weeks so that you have it in time for Detroit. If you believe that you may have trouble paying for something, please contact Mr. Lamey. 

Contact Information for Mr. Lamey:

• Phone Number (Cell): 812-774-1054
• E-Mail Address: bradley.lamey@evsc.k12.in.us

Thanks for your interest and cooperation!
Evansville Central Supermileage Team

Hello Everyone!

We've been working almost tirelessly over the last couple of weeks to get the design for our new tops finalized, as well as to have a finished, working prototype. Due to the effort of our team, we now have an almost finished model, which is ready to be painted. As you can see in the pictures below, we have successfully made the cutouts for both the driver entry/exit hatch, and the rear engine access hatch, as well as the windows. Here's a small list of some of the most noticeable changes to this year's top:

• Improved Structural Integrity (Rigidity)
• Reduced Window Size (More Individual Window Cutouts, Less Overall Area)
• Top Will Now Be Semi-Permanently Attached to the Bottom Half (Attached via Tape Matching the Color of the Bottom)
• The Driver Will Now Enter/Exit Through Center Hatch
• The Engine Will Now Be Able to Be Serviced Without Removing Top via Rear Service Hatch

We haven't hinged either of the hatches to the main body of the top yet, as we are still debating on what the best way to do this is going to be. Until then, here are some pictures of the top's final stages, and it setting next to the old one as a comparison:

Hello Everyone!

We've been hard at work lately creating our new tops for this year. (For those who don't know, our tops are made of a combination of carbon fiber and fiberglass.) The first new top didn't come out as good as we would have liked, so we decided to make some minor changes in the way we made the second new top, which included a pre-built section for the hatch. After getting the top mostly cleaned up, and smoothed yesterday, we've decided that we're pretty happy with the way this one turned out, and will likely make another one identical to it.