2020 Greenpower Student Project Funding

How will your donations be used?

As soon as we hit £850 we can order enough parts to build a rolling frame and would like to finish by March 2020 so we can participate in the April test days. By having something to show, we could be in for a chance of obtaining a sponsorship from a company because we can prove that we will act on our promises. Again, any donations, big or small, will be greatly appreciated and will be put directly into purchasing parts and tools. Also anyone who donates will have their name put on a sticker that will sit on the back of the car, to remind us of all the sponsors who made it possible. We will make a video series of the build, and we will leave regular updates on this page when we start building the car. This is an opportunity that could deliver amazing experience and could even help us get into university.

If you are a company who would like to sponsor us in return for advertising or have any questions about the project, please email [email redacted] and he will gladly answer as soon as possible.

What is Greenpower?

Greenpower is a charity set up to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) subjects in young people, and it ranges from ages 9 to 25 years old. The aim of Greenpower is to design, make and race an electric vehicle, with the goal of achieving the furthest distance. There are three categories in Greenpower; Our team, LTL racing, will be participating in the F24+ category, which is for ages 16-25. In the F24+ category, everyone uses the same motor and batteries to create a fair playing field for every team, and every team car must comply with the Greenpower regulations (Full regulations here: https://www.greenpower.co.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/Technical%20and%20Sporting%20Regulations%202019%20V1.pdf) to make it a safe experience.

The website for Greenpower is here: https://www.greenpower.co.uk/

Who are we?

We are three aspiring students, all with experience in Greenpower racing, who would like to start up our own team under the name of LTL Racing. Our team consists of Daniel Thomas, Joel Langridge and Thomas Leete. Daniel and Joel used to attend Worthing High School, where Thomas still resides, and the three of us participated in the Greenpower project that the school was hosting. Due to the two of us leaving for college, we have not been able to partake in the same team. Even though all three of us have participated in Greenpower before with Worthing High School, we feel that we can gain more knowledge by building our own vehicle from scratch.


What is our plan?

Over the last five months, all three of us have been researching, planning, designing and iterating. You can see our final design attached, however we will explain how we intend to create it. First came the drawing board. We had to design a car, in line with the many regulations of the program, that is aerodynamic, power-efficient, and safe. We started by drawing out many frame designs, fit for the dimensions of our driver which could be made from many materials such as carbon fibre, aluminium, steel and titanium.

One of our many original designs included a unique structure of 2 parallel beams with a series of support bars (also known as subframes) running down the frame, which we later decided to change, dividing the parallel bars into 2 sections. The newer design gave space for the steering mechanism, which would allow a better aerodynamic shape to be formed. We chose this design because it used the least material, which would lower the weight, thus creating a more efficient car.



Plywood panelling would then cover the spaces in the frame, adding strength, and would then give way for us to build on top of it.


Above the plywood will be a layer of high-density foam, which will be carved into the outer body shape. This gives us a lot of versatility as to what we can do with the body. We used Google Sketchup to bring our sketches to life. The attached images show what the car will look like without the paint. Our design of smooth flowing edges allows air to flow over the body with little resistance.




Once we had a final design we were able to able to create a circuit diagram and discussed where each component would go in the car.


We have had the assistance of a friend who has run different shapes through virtual wind tunnel software to show us what works best aerodynamically; This is the reason that we have chosen the shape in our final designs. The final layer on top of it all is the paint and sponsor stickers. We have decided on a dark grey and yellow colour scheme for our team and car, and the stickers will go on the sides and back fin. Everyone who donates will get their name applied onto the car on a sticker, giving us a reminder of the people who made it possible. 


Why do we need funding?

As we are not currently attending a school altogether, and our team is not associated with a school or institution, we have not been able to find funding for our project from companies who would usually fund this sort of project. The calculated price of our project stands at £3000. 

If you'd like a complete price breakdown, the Microsoft Excel file is linked below:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SY1ROVANR6RffdJ-o-YWkBwcxRtnXNoY

Thank you for taking your time to read our proposal, and we hope that you understand that we are committed to making this dream a reality.

Regards,
 - LTL Racing