National victory amazes Waialua's electric-car team
By Kawehi Haug
Advertiser Staff Writer
WAIALUA — Building a battery-powered vehicle from scratch, a 13-student team from Waialua High School last month won a national electric-car competition in Portland, Ore.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
"We didn't go expecting to win," said senior Ashley Yoshizu, the team's driver. "We just went to see what the other teams were like and what kind of cars they had and we ended up winning. We were really surprised."
Back at Waialua High School, senior Ashley Yoshizu, 17, demonstrates how she drove her team's battery-powered vehicle to victory at the America Cup 2003 Electrathon Event held at Portland International Raceway last month.
The team from Waialua defeated 41 other schools during the America Cup 2003 Electrathon held May 24-26 at Portland International Raceway. Driving an hour each day, Waialua won by covering 96.9 miles.
Yoshizu, who wore a red flame-retardant suit and helmet, said she had to dodge her competitors' stalled vehicles and fallen car parts on the 1.9-mile track.
The car was designed and built by the school's Electric Vehicle Team. The soapbox-like car, powered by two 12-volt batteries, rides on four 20-inch BMX rims. The car's 27-pound chrome-and-aluminum frame has a candy-apple red fiberglass nose with black-and-white checkerboard racing motif on its side.
The driver sits strapped to floor with just enough room to steer, brake and accelerate.
Yoshizu, a soccer and basketball player who was Waialua High School's Scholar Athlete of the Year, was the team's driver because she was the only one with a driver's license. She said it took only a few times around the track to get the hang of handling the small aluminum car.
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The students started working on the car last August under the guidance of Timothy Pregana, the industrial arts teacher at Waialua High, who taught them the mechanical science of building an electric vehicle.
Ashley Yoshizu holds the trophy for first-place team overall. Others who helped the team win in Oregon were, from left, Waialua High industrial arts teacher Timothy Pregana, sophomore Jovi Lo, science teacher Glenn Lee, sophomore Joseph Gudoy and sophomore Brandon Sakata.
Pregana co-advised this year's team with Glenn Lee, science teacher at Waialua High. Lee also served as co-adviser in 1997.
Lee spearheaded the effort to take the team to the national competition by raising money and writing applications for grants.
The project cost more than $10,000. Donations from Hawaiian Airlines, a sponsorship from Hawaiian Electric and a $7,000 grant from educational honors society Pi Lambda Theta paid for most of the expenses.
The five students who traveled to Oregon raised an additional $450 each.
While the cost was a major hurdle, Lee said the biggest challenge was getting the car to Oregon. The airline didn't let them check the vehicle in as cargo so they dismantled it and carried it aboard in 18 pieces.
"We had to spend one whole day in Oregon putting the car back together," said Lee.
Besides Yoshizu, students who made the trip were Joseph Gudoy, Jovi Lo, Brandon Sakata and Tyson Sumile.
