Students motor their way to design award from car giants Lotus

A team of One students engineered their way to a design award from the motor racing giants at Lotus.

The award was received at Hethel in Norfolk where One took part in an electric karting competition organised by Greenpower.

The F24 and F24+ competition challenges students from across the UK to design, build and then race an electric car against other teams from local sixth forms and universities.

This specific event was the East of England heat and in addition to the design award, the One team also came second in an F24+ event – that saw how far their vehicle could travel in an hour.

Because they came second, the One team will have a chance of progressing to a national final later in the year that will take place at the Silverstone motor racing circuit in October.

18 year old Peter Russell from Holbrook is a member of the team. The Level 3 Engineering student, said, "We spent about seven months working on this and the challenge gave us a chance to prove ourselves against other sixth form and university teams.

"We sat down and really thought about the design and we were delighted to win the award.

"The race is all about seeing how far you can go - not how fast you can travel. It's about teaching young engineers to build electric cars of the future and it was a great experience."

Dan Sheldrick is the Head of Curriculum for Technology and Engineering at One. He said, "The team of thirteen students really committed to this and picked up loads of new skills along the way. They worked incredibly hard and this helped them win an award.

"Their design was judged by Lotus engineers and the students were able to explain in great detail why they had designed their vehicle the way they did. Their enthusiasm really shone through.

"This specific event was a regional heat. Other events will be taking place across the UK. The fact that we came second place in the F24+ category will hopefully help us get through to the national finals later in the year."