"It's a nifty little project because it's mentored learning. The students are solving technological problems while they face time and resource restraints."

The EV 1 uses ultracapacitors as its energy source. The ultracapacitors store electricity electrostatically, like static electricity. They store quickly and discharge quickly, which presented an initial problem for the students, who designed the car to run on 400 volts: By the end of a quarter-mile run, the capacitors would be down to 275 volts.

The solution was a double-capacitor pack that allows the vehicle to reach optimum speeds and maintain them throughout the distance. At the end of a run, the EV 1 is towed back to the team's pickup truck, where it is recharged from a pack of batteries. The charging takes 15 to 20 minutes.

General Motors donated the EV 1, built in 1997, to BYU in September 2002.

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