(Video link here.)  Under the guidance of innovative education organization MindDrive, thirty at-risk students in a Kansas City, Missouri neighborhood once called the “killing zip code” , built an electric car that successfully converted social media into fuel for a road trip from Kansas City to Washington D.C. A tweet was 5 watts;  a Facebook like, 1 watt; watching their YouTube video, 3 watts.

The car itself is a 1967 Karmann Ghia which the student team restored to working order from the exterior to the interior. The original drivetrain was replaced with an electric one, and they worked out the programming to incorporate the “social fuel” into the car’s operation.

The students worked out of the formerly condemned high school building-cum housing/clinic/computer lab/community center complex that masterminded by Bob Berkebile, an architect at the forefront of the emerging practice of “urban acupuncture.”  They not only made an awesome electric car…

MindDrive electric car

…but showed a whole new use for social media.

David Saltman

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