MATTOON - With a gear-shift jolt and a low whirr, the Lake Land College Lightning Bug was off.

On Thursday morning, the ride started at Dieterich after problems with the brake system were quickly fixed by Lake Land instructors Tim VanDyke, Alan Clodfelder and Kevin Miller.

As some local residents stared, a brief whirr of the electrical power plant could be heard and a jerk followed as Clodfelder shifted the touchy bare gear stick on the floorboard - the interior is nearly ready for a major makeover after being stripped down.

The strange sound from the 1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle proved it has been converted to electric power as part of an alternative energy project at the community college.

"You have to understand this is a work in progress," said Clodfelder, as he drove toward the blacktop roadway bordered by cornfields outside Dieterich.

But this was not a race, with 45 mph as the speed goal on the highway trip. It was a chance for the first road test of the Lightning Bug, drawing attention with its new lightning bolt paint job. The drive was testing the endurance of the car.

"It was time. It was just time. We were always getting the same question: 'How far will it go?' Now we will be able to answer that question," said Van Dyke, who heads the technology division at the college.

The goal was to drive the car on battery power only 50 miles, from 12 miles south of Dieterich in Clay County to Humboldt in Coles County, traversing several counties of the Lake Land district along that route.

Clodfelder, an industrial maintenance teacher who used to drive Volkswagens, said the Lightning Bug conversion from gasoline to electricity has been a unique experience. He spoke loudly because like the Spartan interior, there is no air conditioning in the old Beetle, so open windows brought with them wind noise.

"It was kind of something different to do. As instructors we put our heads together. We were given a chance to work together," Clodfelder said.

As the wildflowers and crop fields glided by, Clodfelder talked about what is ahead for the Lightning Bug. The dashboard was bare except for a speedometer and two gauges measuring the voltage and amperage.

"We'll have different gauges and some computer monitors up here, too, so we can keep track of things. And we might put a back seat back in there," he said, motioning to where some batteries were stacked. Altogether there are 16 batteries powering the car.

Clodfelder said different companies and carmakers are rushing to develop a power system that provides enough volts to go a long way but without a heavy, bulky load.

"The weight of the batteries and the space to store them is the main concern here. GM is working on the Volt to make it go 400 miles or more on battery power. There is a lot of work going on out there, and we can learn from it," said Clodfelder as Montrose appeared on the horizon.

The going was progressively slower as the Lightning Bug paid dearly for the drag on the electricity supply with brake problems miles back.

"All that drag just ate the power. Otherwise, we would have been fine," Van Dyke said later.

Eventually, the speed dropped to 25 mph and then to 10 mph with Lake Land's main campus over the next rise along U.S. 45. The first road trip for the Bug came to an end at 37 miles and some change.

But there was plenty of energy shown by Lightning Bug fans, big and small, when the car rolled to a stop at its finish line. Some child care lab students were waving checkered flags and curious to see what was under the hood, even if it was where most trunks are located.

One of the voyagers was happy but realized much work is ahead.

"We still have a lot of work to do," said Miller, automotive technology instructor. "Electric vehicles are the future, in my opinion. Even if the price (of gasoline) drops, it will be put on hold, but it is still the future, and we needed to get our feet wet in high voltage stuff with this."

Jeff Bloemker, vice president of Mid America Motorworks at Effingham, said the Lightning Bug was a great partnership between the college and his firm. Mid America is a major supplier of Volkswagen Beetle parts and accessories.

"It is really great how Lake Land has entered into research and development with this project," Bloemker said.

Herb Meeker can be reached at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.