Students electrify a Lotus Esprit, and drive it across the U.S.

« Back to Article

Image of 23 Use your left and right arrow keys to navigate the gallery

« Prev | Next »

The Automotive Design Studio class received a Lotus Esprit in January 2012, which was converted to electric drive over the next five months

Students at MINDDRIVE testing the refreshed suspension of the donated Lotus Esprit

The Lotus is stripped and modified

DeLaSalle High School student Ehiner Torrejas-Perez, mentor Brian Nackonechny, and Alta Vista High School student Emanuel Gutierrez install the resistors, in sequence, on the Li-ion battery pack

The team puts the finishing touches to the now-electric Lotus Esprit

The team is given a public send-off on June 6

Map of the route from San Diego to Jacksonville

Taking in the scenery on Day 1 of the coast-to-coast drive

Charging the batteries took around an hour

Team members made presentations and gave interviews to local media at every charging stop along the way

The MINDDRIVE Lotus leaving Yuma Arizona on Day 2

Is that a green Lotus in the mirror?

MINDDRIVE student Elias Williams got the chance to get in the driver's seat of the sporty electric Lotus from Willcox, Arizona to Lordsburg, New Mexico

Leaving Willcox, the electric Lotus Esprit with student Elias Williams at the wheel

Students and mentors take time out to talk to the locals and the media about the vehicle and the organization that helped them build it

The MINDDRIVE team pose for a group photograph with the electric Lotus Esprit

The team was treated to a police escort as they entered Junction, Texas

A close up of the rear of the Lotus Esprit

The Lotus made a pitstop at Bridgestone's Texas Proving Ground near Fort Stockton to test the driving efficiency

Group two got to meet the MadSCI team from the James Madison High School in San Antonio on June 19, and their Solaris solar car project

Close up of the 30 3.2-volt Li-ion batteries

The end-of-trip celebration back in Kansas City

MINDDRIVE mentors and 15 at-risk students converted a 1977 Lotus Esprit to electric-only drive and then drove it coast-to-coast across America

Article Summary

Around this time last year, a non-profit after school program for at-risk high school students in the Kansas City area called MINDDRIVE took delivery of a donated 1977 Lotus Esprit. Students from five different schools in the area spent every Saturday for the next five months converting the iconic sportscar into a two-seater electric vehicle. Students and mentors then drove the car coast-to-coast across America, making presentations and giving interviews to local media at every charging stop along the way. The epic journey was captured on camera and the organization is now looking to produce a documentary, turning to crowd-funding platform Indiegogo for help.

« Back to Students electrify a Lotus Esprit, and drive it across the U.S.

Other Images from this Gallery