The Open Innovation Center Kameoka (OICK), an industry-government-academia collaboration facility in Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture, and Kyoto Prefectural Nantan High School (Kameoka City) are taking on the challenge of racing energy-efficient vehicles powered by batteries. With the goal of nurturing the next generation of engineers, high school students studying industrial technology are hard at work building a machine with improved driving performance, hoping to complete the race they had previously abandoned.
OICK was launched in the spring of 2023 by Kyoto University of Advanced Science, Kameoka City, and the Kameoka Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Based at Kyoto University of Advanced Science's Kyoto Kameoka Campus (Sogabe-cho, Kameoka City), OICK will conduct research into electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous driving technology, among other areas.
In order to hone their skills for EVs in 2025, OICK approached Nantan High School to jointly develop a vehicle. Members of the Engineering Club came up with an ingenious machine that "has no steering wheel and is controlled by foot pedals." A Kameoka manufacturer helped build the chassis, completing the project.
In July 2025, the team will compete in the Ene-One Suzuka Challenge, a timed race in which they will run the full 5,807-meter course at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, three times, powered by 40 rechargeable AA batteries. They managed to climb the famous 8% gradient in their first attempt, but ran out of time and retired after 4,200 meters.
This year, for their second attempt, they will change the material used for the upper cowling, which forms the exterior of the car, to fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) to explore a design with less air resistance. The students even attended university during their summer vacation, engrossed in creating the prototype cowling.
The team plans to compete in the Ene-One Suzuka Challenge, which will be held at Suzuka Circuit in December. The driver, third-year student Hibiki Katsuno (18 years old), from Yamashina Ward, Kyoto City, is enthusiastic, saying, "I want to improve the car's aerodynamics and make it a little faster. I want to complete all three laps."
OICK researcher Tadayoshi Nakamura (69 years old), who was involved in car development at a major automobile manufacturer, keeps his advice to a minimum and leaves it up to the students' initiative. "Use both success and failure as learning experiences, and I want you to work with confidence when you enter society," he said as he watched the hard-working young people.
