The E-Car: A Hit With Kids of All Ages

Call it the "Electric Pickle", the "Whiz Car" or even "N8R BOI", but the converted 1972 Volkswagen that’s a part of the Young Scientist Challenge here in Washington, D.C. is a toy that the kids, hosts and judges just can’t seem to stop talking about.

Essentially, they took an old VW and converted it from gas to electric, and then painted it the coolest shade of green possible. Now it’s being used to help kids make the connection between the need for alternative fuels and ways of actually doing it.

To do that they’ve been working with batteries hooked up to motors here on a much smaller scale, putting them in series and parallel to create the most power possible and relating that knowledge to the E-Car itself before getting the chance to take a ride.

Ultimately they’re asked to consider ways of charging the massive amount of batteries, needed to run the car, and realizing that it can be a whole lot cheaper to power a car with electricity over gas. And that means a savings tallied up in energy, cash and Co2 in the process.

And I almost forgot to mention that little Electric Pickle goes zero to 60mph in just 5 seconds and is a complete blast to drive. Gotta love it!

via:: Live at Discovery's Young Scientist Challenge!