The New Administrative Capital witnessed the first 2018 Electric Vehicle Rally (EVER) Egypt, using locally manufactured electric cars by the hands of 300 students from 26 Egyptian universities from all over the country. The teams were selected over six months, to reach nine teams that took part in the race.
The rally was held under the auspices of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and in presence of Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, President of the Academy of Scientific Research Mahmoud Sakr, and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University Ayman Ashour, as well as a number of heads of Egyptian universities.
Abdel Ghaffar inaugurated the rally. He said that the local components in the manufactured cars must be above 65%, as this comes within the framework of serving the state’s direction for the manufacturing of cars. He added that this is just the beginning of manufacturing pure Egyptian cars, as Egyptians can do anything when given the proper tools.
The minister also drove one of the local cars, and praised the performance of the vehicle, before testing a BMW i3 model.
The stages of the race included several points, namely the design of the primary cars, then the presentation of the car, and the stages of manufacturing, taking into consideration the safety factors. Each point was awarded EGP 25,000 from the Academy of Scientific Research. The last stage was the 4-round race: tour, 100m drag race, an autocross race, and a 25km endurance track.
The teams were awarded more points if they consumed less electricity, and achieved higher speed.
Each of the nine team that entered the race were composed of students who created an entirely electric car with financing from Abdel Ghaffar.
The Faculty of Engineering at Ain Shams University was awarded the first prize, and received an reward of EGP 500,000 and the Innovation Award. The team of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Suez came in second place with a financial prize of EGP 250,000. The Higher Technology Institute in the 10th of Ramadan came in third, and received a financial award of EGP 120,000.
Ibrahim Badran, representative of the racing team at the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, said during his speech at the fourth annual Egypt Automotive summit last year that the team will organise the first EVER race in the New Administrative Capital in September 2018, noting that it will be sponsored by the Academy of Scientific Research.
This confirms that Egypt is on the right track, and that the dreams and plans of yesterday have become a reality today.
