Electronic Vehicles to Star in Coast-to-Coast
Rally.
San
José, Costa Rica
The Tico Times
More
than 30 electronic cars and motorcycles piloted by contestants
from six netions will take part here this week in an unprecedented
Caribbean-to-Pacific road rally to have fun while raising
consciousness about these silent, clean-burning vehicles.
Contestants
will leave at 8:30 a.m. March 28 from the south Carribean
community of Puerto Viejo, head north to Cahuita and Limon
and then west, along the Braulio Carrillo highway to EARTH
University, Guapiles and then on through San Jose to the
Pacific port city of Puntarenas. Synergy EV supported the
University of California - Riverside Team.
The
rally arrives in San José March 30. It will depart
from the Municipal building on Ave. 10 and proceed east
down Paseo Colon, Ave. 2, Paseo de los Estudiantes and Parque
de la Paz, and then along the San Jose beltway (the traffic-circle
route) to the Universidad de Costa Rica and the court building
in Goicoechea de Guadalupe before heading to Moravia and
Tibas to it's final metro-area destination: INBio in Santo
Domingo de Heredia.
The
rally leaves from INBio March 31 for the communities of
Heredia, Alajuela and San Ramon, where contestants will
spend the night. Sunday, April 1, drivers will leave San
Ramon for Esparza and Puntarenas. All departure times are
set for
8:30 a.m.
The
Costa Rica Foundation for Sustainable Development (entebbe)
is the event's main organizer. Sponsors include: Instituto
Costarricense de Turismo (ICT), Earth University, Amnet,
Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), Pizza Hut
and Ministerio de Minas y Energías (MINAE).
Teams
from Costa Rica, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Canada and the U.S.
will compete with both completely electronic and "hybrid"
vehicles that combine electrically charged batteries with
some type of internal combustion fuel.
Contestants
will be judged and awarded not for who arrives first, but
for overall energy efficiency, a complex equation that contemplates
distance, speed and energy consumed.
