Shocking Upset
In 1968, Wally Rippel, BS (BS ’68) and his Caltech team challenged MIT students to a cross-country race of electric cars
Courtesy of Caltech Archives
Rippel’s personally modified Volkswagen bus was the scrappy underdog, its floor covered with 20 lead-cobalt batteries, while MIT’s fancier Chevy Corvair, donated by General Motors, used a set of $20,000 nickel-cadmium batteries. The teams set off from Pasadena and Cambridge, respectively, with 54 charging stations set up along the route. MIT’s car crossed the finish line first, but Rippel’s bus was declared the winner after MIT suffered several penalties for breakdowns and tows.