The Electrathon is an international electric vehicle competition for high school and college students. The Wisconsin Electrathon is part of the Wisconsin Energy Efficient Vehicle Association (WEEVA), the statewide entity which includes both the Wisconsin Electrathon and Wisconsin Supermileage programs.

The Wisconsin Electrathon Program involves high schools and colleges in Wisconsin and other states in researching, designing, building, and competing in Electrathon vehicles. These are small one-person electric vehicles with limited battery capacity.

The goal of the Wisconsin Electrathon is to bring attention to the environmental problems of conventional cars and demonstrate the viability of electric vehicles. The program provides a means of teaching young people how to evaluate alternatives and make sustainable lifestyle choices, and uses a problem-solving discipline to design and build an efficient vehicle, all in a hands-on and team oriented approach.

How is the competition run?
The competition is run for an hour. Basically a good way to look at it is how far can you go in an hour or Miles-per-Hour.

How fast do they go?
That's a good question! How fast do you want to go? Remember this is a marathon race. You have a limited amount of battery so the vehicle has to be efficient. A good car goes at least 25-30MPH on a speedway. Average speeds will be slower on a parking lot course.

What is the size of the vehicles?
Maximum dimensions allowed are 4 feet wide by 12 feet long.

What can I build the cars out of?
The frames are usually fabricated from steel or aluminum, a roll cage is required. There are minimum standards for strength of roll cage members. Shells can be made from plastic, composites, or sheet metal.

What other states are involved?
In the Midwest, Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, and Nebraska all have active Electrathon-type programs. Other states with programs include Florida, West Coast States, and East Coast States, Ontario and Mexico.

What is the History of Electrathon?
Steve VanRonk, one of the early Light-electric Vehicle (LEV) pioneers brought the competitions to the U.S. from Australia.

• The following websites offer additional information...
• Iowa Electrathon
• Electrathon America
• Teams World-Wide
• Possible Electrathon Vendors
• Blue Sky
• Cloud Electric

Electrathon Presentation
(PDF - 1.3MB)

An Electrathon model