4WD tear down begins

YOUNG women are getting hands on with a classic Range Rover.

Students from four schools in Bendigo are at the halfway point of the girls in STEAM electric car project, with the final result being an upcycled electric four-wheel drive.

The project is a collaboration between Bendigo Tech School and Jaunt Motors, with industry assistance from SafeScape, Telus Electrical Services and Discovery Science and Technology Centre.

Director of Bendigo Tech School Graeme Wiggins is thrilled with the progress the young women have made so far.

“This project has six hours of work time invested in it, so the girls are doing extraordinarily well with the disassembly of a vehicle that is pretty heavily corroded and very difficult to get apart in places,” he said.

“The whole idea is that we want young women to be aspirational of careers in advanced manufacturing and engineering, for trades, and to correct a bit of the gender imbalance that there is in those workplaces.”

Mr Wiggins said Bendigo Tech School also aims to educate about automotive waste, upcycling and future transport sustainability.

Crusoe College student Charlotte is one of the girls working hard to dissemble the car and jumped at the opportunity to join the project.

“Right now, I’m working on the front and we’re taking off the side panel,” she said. “The bolts are really rusted on our side but overall, it’s good.

“I’m actually really happy because it actually gives me something that I’m really interested in, and it gets me hands on which is good.

“My school doesn’t really offer anything like this. I’ve been around cars a fair bit and machinery just around home, I definitely feel like I could work with cars in the future.”

The finished product will be available for community hire in around 18 months to two years’ time.