Electric racers will try to break 50 mph with one horsepower!

How far can you go in one hour with only one horsepower?

A determined group of streamlined electric race cars will try to set a new level of "Extreme Efficiency" at the Electrathon IBM National Speed Trials on October 25, 2005. New Hampshire International Speedway will host competitors from all over New England, with 5 challengers coming out from Iowa. They will all be trying to better the current national record of 49.44 miles, set on this one mile oval by a team from Mt. Blue High School, Farmington, ME. If conditions permit, Team Electrolite, from Portland, ME, will try a radical innovation to recapture the record - a vertical fin to gain some additional energy from the wind.

Tension will be high as all the teams know that everything has to be done right to achieve this kind of performance...months, even years of effort have gone into the design and construction of these exotic machines. In a style referred to as 'passive-aggressive', the drivers will wrestle the highest possible speed from the lowest possible effort. Measured in automotive terms, they will reach the equivalent of 1500 miles per gallon. Electrathon is a national competition for lightweight, high efficiency electric vehicles. Power is limited to 67 lbs. of production lead acid batteries, which amounts to a little more than one horsepower over the hour. The rules are simple enough to allow a wide variety of creative designs, and although it's open to everyone, most of the competitors are school teams because the sport offers an affordable test of imagination, skill, discipline and teamwork. And, striving to foster an ethic of efficiency, it promotes the development of alternative energy transportation in compelling style. The National Speed Trials are made possible by a generous grant from IBM and are presented by the Maine Energy Education Program and Electrathon New England.