The Vancouver Sun recently reported on a group of Engineering students who will soon be in a world-wide race to exhibit vehicle sustainability, but not before making an appearance at the 2010 Olympic Games.

The Electric Car Club recently set out to change an old 1972 Volkswagen Beetle they bought on Craigslist for $2400 into an electric-run masterpiece. The club hopes to showcase the vehicle in a trip to Whistler and back during the Winter Games in February, before replacing the home-made engine with a more powerful model that will propel them through the UN-sponsored Zero Emission Race in June 2010. The initial model will be run by a battery that has a four hour charge time, but after replacement, the group hopes to produce an engine that is able to travel 500 kilometres a day for about 80 days for the competition. Pit stops will include Paris, Munich, Beijing, Moscow and London.

“We don’t want to just drive,” Electric Car Club member Ricky Gu told the Sun. “We want to promote sustainable energy all along the way. It’s a competition but it’s also a parade, and a way for the whole world to show what we can do for the environment.”

—Kalyeena Makortoff