EV Cart Racing Club Offers Fun Student Experience, Valuable Skills

Edison State Community College is committed to offering real-world experience to help students grow and learn the skills needed to succeed. The College’s EV Cart Racing Club—which brings students together to design, build, and race electric-powered carts—is one example of that commitment. Each year, the club races their carts at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, and hosts a race at Edison State’s Piqua Campus.

“Edison State started racing EV carts in the 2022-23 season, when we built two cars and raced one at Mid-Ohio with 10 other schools,” said Tom Looker, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and EV Cart Racing Club Advisor. “For the second season, we built a new cart and raced two carts. That year, we hosted a race against the Upper Valley Career Center. For this season, we built a third-generation cart.”

The club’s current team, consisting of students Trevor Meyer, Seth Weis, Noah Roy, and Matthew Longfellow, competed in this year’s races. At the race held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Wednesday, April 30, they competed against three schools with 12 carts and walked away the victors by completing 31 laps in 30 minutes.

The team enjoyed another round of friendly competition during a race they hosted on campus on Thursday, May 8. They competed in three 48-volt carts against Graham High School’s 72-volt cart, with Edison State completing 46 laps and Graham completing 47 laps in 30 minutes of race time.

“While 48 volts was the official spec for the race, we allowed Graham High School to use a 72-volt motor, which they raced against our 48-volt carts,” Looker said. “We still had a great competition—even with their more powerful motor!”

The EV Cart Racing Club at Edison State meets weekly in the fall and spring depending on students’ schedules, where they put ideas into action and use their hands to develop and create a race vehicle. The club is open to any student who wants a fun hands-on experience and is interested in engineering and technological machines.

Those interested in joining the EV Cart Racing Club should email Looker. Learn more about Edison State’s student clubs by visiting www.edisonohio.edu/clubs.