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By Gary Dotterer
Northeast Technology Center
Rising costs of heating fuels, gasoline,
natural gas, and other forms of petroleum based products have risen drastically
in the last few years. Alternatives to this situation have
many companies and individuals looking for other sources of power
to fuel automobiles today.
Bio-diesel, alcohol derivative fuels,
and even solar power have been considered as possible solutions
for the energy crunch but another form of power starting emerging at
the forefront is electricity.
Northeast Technology Center’s
Electrical Technology program has been creating electrical powered
vehicles for over 10 years.The first vehicle was a restored D-50
Dodge pickup which cost around $4000 to convert.
According to Dan Ipock, Electrical Technology instructor
at the Afton Campus of NTC, “This project was made available
through a grant from the State Department of CareerTech, as a new
and innovative project.”
Rick Craig, former director at the Kansas Campus of
NTC and Mr. Ipock wrote a grant paper in the late 90’s to help
fund this project. The “Electric Truck” became part of
the curriculum and has offered the students a viable training option
while attending the electrical program.
Mr. Ipock stated, “His classes have helped build
a Porsche and another truck which can be seen driving around in the
Grove area. The vehicles usually take one school year to complete
and individuals are quite impressed by the power and how quiet they
run.” |
Students from Grove viewing the
batteries under the hood of the "Electric Truck" during
the Career Expo and Health Fair.
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When asked about the cost to run the electric truck
verses gasoline power Mr. Ipock stated, “We used a Kilowatt
Meter to measure the power needed to recharge the vehicle it cost
around $.01/mile.The electric truck works well on short trips to
work, school, or store but not on cross country trips.”
Advantages to the electric vehicle include; cheap & clean
power, no oil or fluid changes necessary, no belts, and little or
no maintenance. Disadvantages include; low performance in bad weather,
loose connections from vibration, recharge rate low, and must recharge
daily.
The Electrical Technology program also teaches students,
motor controls, programmable logic controllers, residential wiring,
commercial wiring, and robotics. For more information about NTC visit www.netechcenters.com
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