Electric vehicles took centre stage at the Greenpower International Finals, held recently at Rockingham Speedway.

This event is run by the Greenpower Education Trust (a UK-based charity that aims to get young people interested in science and engineering by challenging them to design, build and race an electric car) and follows six months
of regional qualifying.

Throughout the year, Greenpower (www.greenpower.co.uk) works with more than 10,000 participants in over 700 teams, representing private companies, racing clubs, schools, technical colleges and universities from a number of countries — including China, Portugal, Poland and Ireland.

The finals brought together 122 teams competing in two age categories: IET Formula 24 (11-16 years) and IET Formula 24+ (16-25 years).

Mark Harvey, Ford’s Urban Electric Vehicle Programme director, said: “To see how the event has grown was great. All the teams looked like they had a fantastic time, and they were very competitive throughout.

"An electrification challenge such as this gives the participants a great introduction to modern engineering, and we hope that the experience will encourage them to pursue careers developing the engineering solutions of the future.”

Ford has been a regional sponsor of the Greenpower Education Trust for 17 years, and it announced earlier this year that it was to become a national-level sponsor.

This is in addition to hosting regional heats at its Dunton Technical Centre.