Students take title in speedy electric kart

A group of budding engineers from Palmerston North school Tai Wa¯nanga Tu¯ Toa has built the fastest electric kart in the lower North Island.

The team of Kai’Del Ross, 15, Casey Parkinson, 15, Meelah Lawton-Rei, 14, and Dante Wynyard, 14, built a batterypowered go-kart as part of the Horowhenua-Manawatu¯ EVolocity programme.

The programme is a practical way for secondary school students to experience working in engineering, sustainability and electric transport.

With their electric kart, the Tu¯ Toa team won the Wellington-Manawatu¯ competition at Porirua at the weekend and have qualified for the national finals in Hamilton this November.

At the regional final, the Tu¯ Toa team had to win competitions including a drag race, a street circuit and picking up batons to deliver them somewhere else.

The kart can get up some speed, as they found during the drag race, and its brakes are fully functional too.

Driving duties were shared between the four team-mates and Dante said they all worked together on the project.

There were a lot of other teams at the competition, including a strong O¯ taki College team.

Kai’Del didn’t think they could win but his etam ended up coming home with the title. He said they built the kart over a couple of weekends.

The quartet had help from Henry Wilkinson, an engineer at Stevensons Structural Engineers. He is also Kai’Del’s uncle and Meelah’s stepfather.

The team were looking forward to competing at nationals and hoped to qualify again next year.