Marion County TEC

Marion County TEC in Marion, SC
Jim Chavis, Instructor

Marion County TEC has converted a 1985 Ford Escort from gas powered to battery powered. It is street legal and they drive it in parades, exhibit it at businesses and even drive it to lunch. They take it to Raleigh, NC in the Spring to compete in the Carolina Power & Light EV Challenge. Here is a photo of the car just off the wrecker. They had to mount 2 temp tires to get it to the school.

Here is the car today. Jim says it has changed the lives of the students (and teachers) that have been involved with the program. So far, we have won 13 trophies, an achievement award from the U.S. Department of Energy and 3 letters of commendation from the Governor of South Carolina.

Here is a shot of what the car looks like under the hood. The components are mounted on a sheet of lexan. The car has over 1100 pounds of batteries on board. Theses are 16 six volt batteries.

They took the car to Raleigh on April 27 & 28 and beat 31 cars from Florida, North Carolina & Virginia for 1st place in the distance event! Keep up the good work!