Brighter Side: Lindsborg Teen Builds Electric Car

July 08, 2009

by Cliff Judy (LINDSBORG, Kan.)

Andrew Loder's mother swears he's not one to buck authority, swears he's a well-behaved teen, swears she wasn't that angry when she found out Andrew bought a car without her permission. Of course, the six-page letter Loder wrote his mother to explain his decision shows he knows better.

"I had to write a letter to Mom," says 17-year-old Loder. "Her friend convinced her not to ground me or kill me."

Loder had good reason to rebel. After experiencing just one summer of high gas prices last year, he decided he needed a change. He decided to build an electric car, though he had no automotive or electrical experience. He says he still doesn't even know how to change his own oil.

Even though his parents continually told him no (he marked every "no" in a notebook and says he ran out of space), Loder found a 1995 Ford Escort with help from his girlfriend's grandparents. He bought the Escort a day before the owner planned to take it to the junkyard, and when he ordered a forklift motor on eBay...he knew it was time to write his mother the letter.

"I thought, 'You know? There's a lot worse things he could be doing,'" says Loder's mother, Joy Janis. "He's using his brains, he's constantly researching. It really, really has turned out to be a great project. I'm really proud of him."

Loder's only help was internet research, and he admits almost everything he tried didn't work the first time around. However, his electric-powered Escort has been street legal for a month now.

"I couldn't quit smiling," Loder says of his first drive in the car. "People on the internet call it the EV grin. The electric vehicle grin."

Loder's car has its own set of idiosyncracies. He has an electric plug for a gas cap and his trunks is half full of batteries. The car has no air conditioner, no power steering, and tops out at 38 miles an hour. Still, he uses his pickup truck so little, he didn't have to fill it up for a month-and-a-half.

"I figured if nothing else, I'll light a fire under people in town," says Loder. "Maybe get them to do the same thing."

The teen says he has plenty more work to do. He wants to find a better power controller so his car can go faster. In the next year, Loder's goal is to sell his Escort and make an even better electric vehicle in a pickup truck.

The soon-to-be Linsborg High senior says he wants to attend Wichita State University and major in aerospace engineering.

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