The High Mileage Vehicle organization gives students the opportunity to apply design and manufacturing processes to a real world engineering problem. Students design, build, and test an actual vehicle that is driven on closed road courses such as Road America! This organization gives students the opportunity to design, build, and test a gas or electric powered vehicle with maximum efficiency. Every aspect about this vehicle is designed, built, and tested by the team from scratch!
The endurance challenges bring students together in the quest of getting the best mileage possible, for both gas and electric vehicles. Students examine aerodynamics, rolling resistance, and gear ratios for all vehicles. Supermileage teams focus on engine efficiency and carburetion. Electrathon cars focus on speed and consistency to build a vehicle that can travel the farthest distance in one hour with a limited weight of batteries. Teams examine electrical circuits, battery data, motor efficiency, and torque curves.