Miami Lakes Educational Center’s Engineering Cambridge Program and Robotics Club presented their electric Go-kart at the Miami International Car Show on Aug. 31.
MLEC participated in the event with Miami Coral Park Senior High School, South Dade Senior High School and Terra Environmental Research Institute.
The Go-kart program is part of a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program supported by Florida Power & Light Company.
The utility and the schools are participating in the Electrathon America program that encourages building electric vehicles and learning about STEM.
“Our students in our engineering Cambridge program and robotics club have taken the initiative alongside their teacher Ms. Ivon Suarez to construct their EV Go-kart, starting last school year,” MLEC magnet program lead David Galarce said in an email.
The Go-kart has seen improvements since they began building it, going from 15 mph to 33 mph. The real goal of the race isn’t speed but endurance, seeing who can go the longest distance on a single charge, according to Galarce and FPL. Kids demonstrated their Go-karts at the car show as well as at Homestead-Miami Speedway in events hosted by FPL.