Purdue to host fourth Electric Vehicle Grand Prix Saturday

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Teams from Purdue, Ivy Tech and Vincennes University will compete in the fourth Purdue Electric Vehicle Grand Prix on Saturday (April 27).

The Ev Grand Prix will begin at 1 p.m. on the Purdue University Grand Prix track northwest of campus. The Purdue event will be a prelude to the third Purdue International Ev Grand Prix, which will be run May 12 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Teams from across the United States and Europe will participate in the international event.

At Purdue, 20-25 karts are expected to race 50 laps. All of the teams will be eligible to compete in the May 12 event at IMS.

The Ev Grand Prix is an outgrowth of the Indiana Advanced Electric Vehicle Training and Education Consortium (I-AEVtec), which has developed degree and training programs for the electric-vehicle industry. Some of the karts are built as part of class work developed through I-AEVtec.

At Purdue, the karts will compete in race performance, design review competition, community outreach and energy efficiency.

This year, Autodesk Inc., a maker of 3-D design, engineering and entertainment software, will be the primary sponsor of both Ev Grand Prix events.

Dave "The King" Wilson, a WFBQ 95 radio personality and race announcer, will be commentator for both events.

The Purdue Ev Grand Prix is free and open to the public.  More information is available at http://www.evgrandprix.org 

Writer: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu 

Source: Danny White, Purdue motor sports outreach specialist, 765-496-7748, white66@purdue.edu