Foothill wins Vital Link electric race car competition at UC Irvine
High school students saw their ideas hit the pavement Saturday morning at UC Irvine.
The annual Vital Link Energy Invitational took place at a parking lot on campus, with 11 high school teams racing their self-built electric cars in four heats.
Two different teams from Foothill High placed first and third in the contest, which judged cars based on their efficiency using the following formula: 10 million, divided by (watt hours times total seconds). A team from California Academy of Math and Science placed second.
Huntington Beach High ended up being the only local team racing. Teams from Ocean View and Estancia high schools couldn’t quite get their cars done in time due to parts issues, Vital Link senior program director Neda Arab said.
Though Huntington Beach did not finish top-three in the competition, the team of 10 was able to complete all four heats. Additionally, Arab said that their tweaking in-between the heats did result in a more efficient car.
The team from Huntington Beach featured all juniors and one sophomore, meaning the students can enter again next year.
“I think they enjoyed it and they learned some things for next year,” Arab said. “They’ll be back.”
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
