Gustave Motors
The solar-electric car that started our engineering club.
- Students recruited in our first year
- ~20
- My club presidency
- 2022–2025
- Winner · Inter-zone high-school prize
- Projet X 2023
In early 2022, a few friends and I decided we wanted to build a solar-electric car. We had an idea, plenty to learn, and no engineering club yet. We went to the school administration, asked for permission to start one, and began recruiting.
Around twenty students joined us in that first year. With a Tunisian mechatronics engineer and our technology teacher beside us, we gained access to the school’s technology lab. That gave us somewhere to turn our research into something we could actually build.
Taking responsibility
Leading the club meant managing the budget, approving purchases, coordinating the team and staying in touch with the school administration. I also got involved in modelling, coding and sourcing parts, with guidance from a Tunisian mechatronics engineer and our technology teacher.
Learning before building
We spent our first months learning how a car works and estimating the motor power our vehicle would need. We designed the steel chassis in 3D, then gave the school’s metalworker the drawings and specifications. Plenty of our decisions came through trying, checking and starting again.
Making the parts work together
With a friend, I visited mechanics and scrapyards to find parts we could reuse: a steering rack, a steering wheel and a quad rear axle. We adapted Vespa wheels for the rear-wheel-drive system and bicycle wheels at the front. A metalworking specialist helped us machine the wheel fittings accurately.
The details that took patience
We placed the lead-acid batteries under the seat to balance the car. One challenge was switching between charging them in parallel and driving with them in series, so the car had to stop to charge. We also added cable-operated disc braking, lights, a horn and a dashboard made with CNC tools.
Sharing the work
At Projet X 2023, we presented our solar-electric car, explained the choices behind it and shared our work with visitors. These photos bring back the team, the prototype and the people who helped us get there.
Looking back
The people behind the car
Some nights, we stayed in the school workshop until four in the morning. Before the competition, even getting the car ready for transport became a project of its own. Those moments taught me how much coordination sits behind a finished prototype.
I made many of the decisions, but I could make them because people listened, challenged our ideas and shared their skills. I’m grateful to our team, our technology teacher Cédric Campo and our engineering mentor Seif Eddine El Jery. The prize belongs to the work we did together.
The prize & documents
We won the inter-zone high-school prize.
Projet X 2023 · The trophy and our team on the podium.
“Hedi demonstrates true leadership qualities, planning, mobilizing, and motivating his peers.”