Inner-City Youth Walking the Talk on Advanced Vehicle Innovation and Sustainability

As we head into 2011 with positive manufacturing news in the national media, industriousness and innovation at a high school in West Philadelphia shows how US leadership in clean energy and transportation technology is not just building jobs today, but building the careers and communities of tomorrow.

The Progressive Automotive X Prize, a $10 Million competition for the best 100 mile per gallon-equivalent cars, attracted teams of innovators from around the world in 2010. The goal of the competition was “to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles that help break our addition to oil and stem the effects of climate change.”

A team of high school students from an urban public high school in Philadelphia, PA took that goal a step further. The West Philly Hybrid X Team entered their EVX GT and Ford EVX Focus cars into the competition explaining that they would not only promote environmental sustainability but also social sustainability by growing jobs at home in Philadelphia. The team will be building a new electric car this spring.

‘“This movement of environmentalism has to be led by people most affected,” said Azeem Hill, a high school senior and West Philly Hybrid X Team Captain. Hear more of Hill’s explanation of the team’s efforts in the following video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh2N-sUlQPo[/youtube]

NWF is committed to fair and equitable solutions to climate change that build jobs and revitalize communities– those solutions depend on innovation and leadership like that from the West Philly team.