Coming off two years of victories on the drag strip with their hand-crafted electric car, the guys in the Great Mills High School engineering club are confident they will again claim the fastest time in their division – this year with two electric dragsters.

Edwards, left, and Jarboe peer in the rear of the electric Mustang   -   Bay Net photo by Sean Rice See more pictures below

With the help of St. Mary’s Commissioner Larry Jarboe and “resident automotive genius” Jonathan Edwards (as Jarboe calls him), owner of the Town Creek Shop, the automotive group in the Engineering Club are busy each week picking up skills in electronics and auto repair.

There are other groups within the engineering club, including rocketry and robotics, but this automotive group feels their experiences are the most practical, that will give them the greatest benefit later in life.

“This shows us the way, in the future, that we can power our own cars,” Keith Stone told The Bay Net while the group was at the Town Creek Shop on Thursday working on the yet-to-be-named electric Mustang.

“Eventually we’re going to run out (of oil),” T. J. Patton said. “And in the future corn will become our new gas.”

Right now the cars the teens are working on are strictly run on electricity, charged by solar power or generator, but they understand the importance of alternative fuels and power sources – probably more than their elders.

Lately, Keith and Jake Bosse have been tinkering with creating hydrogen, which may eventually be an automotive power source. It’s nothing large scale, and they aren’t attempting to capture or use the hydrogen created. The method involves running electricity through metal submerged in water to “crack” out and separate the hydrogen atoms. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “run your car off tap water,” this is the basic principle.

As for Jarboe, somewhat of a back yard scientist, he is constantly working on alternative energy production for his car, boat and home. The two generators he currently uses to recharge the “Green Hornet” (his electric car that won a National Electric Drag Racing Association race last year) run on a gas-water mixture, and the other on a biodiesel mixture. But he hopes to have one that runs on methanol or ethanol by this year’s race in June.

During the two previous years, the club tweaked Jarboe’s Green Hornet for the NEDRA race in Hagerstown, but this year, Edwards came across a fully converted Ford Mustang for sale for only $300. While the car already had thousands of dollars of conversion equipment already installed, it hasn’t been run in nearly nine years, and needed some tuning up.

After a new collection of batteries were installed and other work performed, Edwards was ready to take the Mustang for a spin on Thursday. The team watched him first take the car for a spin up and down Town Creek Shop Drive, then each went for a ride in it.

After nine years of sitting, the Mustang’s electric motor wasn’t in top performing condition, as they found out that afternoon, so there will be some more work to come before the “Stang” is race-ready. (Hey there’s a possible nickname).

And the races are serious, not merely golf cart putting. During the record-breaking quarter mile run by The Green Hornet last year, the car broke 85 mph.

During this year’s race, Alex Mercado will be the designated driver for the group, as he is the only one who has his license yet.

“This year I got my license, so I’ll finally get to drive what I helped build,” Alex said, adding he’s already beaten last year’s Green Hornet record, unofficially, on the track at Budd’s Creek. “I think we’ll go to the top of the division.”

The group is also working on another car, which is being built from scratch, from the frame up. So far Edwards has done most of the work on it, but he showed a couple of the guys how to use a welder in the process.

Back at the “Hornet’s Nest,” a mini barn right behind Great Mills High School funded by Jarboe, the group also flexes their electrical mastery fixing and tweaking electric scooters. They’ve even garnered a reputation as scooter mechanics at the school, and other students bring their broken scooters to them for repair (for a modest fee of course).

And the members realize what a tremendous asset it is to have Jarboe and Edwards working with them, providing equipment, funds and a location to work.

“He’s the most dedicated person I’ve ever met at the school, and he doesn’t even work there,” Jake said of Jarboe.

The members of the club include T.J., Keith, Jake, Alex and Josh Leffer.