Udo Reiss shows that climate protection and motorsport do not have to be opposites. Shortly before Round 4 of RCCO World eX Season 9 at Road Atlanta, the teacher and forest ranger joined the latest Bizz Talk to explain how his work in nature, his change of career and an electric race car project with his students all fit together.
He introduced himself modestly: “My name is Udo Reiss. I’m 59 years old, and a teacher in an Evangelic school in Bad Düben. And I teach history and geography and economy.” Before becoming a teacher, he spent 27 years in banking and management, most recently as a regional CEO in Dresden and Leipzig for Dresdner Bank and Commerzbank. “I was asked to make decisions that I could not support anymore,” he recalled. “A big part of this was reducing staff. It was in 2018. And therefore, I decide to start a new career.”
At the same time, Reiss rediscovered a childhood passion. He grew up in a small village near Wittenberg, close to the forest. “When we came from the school, we went in the wood. This was our place, and we built tree houses and so. The trees were always in my heart,” he said. Today he lives in the Dübener Heide, a large forest area north of Leipzig, and works as a ranger, taking groups into the woods and answering questions about trees and ecosystems. “The trees came back to me,” he summed up his journey.
This is also how World eX and Racing For The Climate e.V. met him. “(My brother) Markus and I met Udo at a tree planting near Leipzig at the beginning of this year,” Julius Martin, chairman of Racing For The Climate e.V., explained. With every participation in the unique sim racing series, a tree is planted, and last season’s trees were planted under Reiss’s guidance as ranger. “People only protect nature when they understand its value,” he stressed. “That is why we take our students outside and let them learn from nature itself.”
Connecting theory and practice is a key principle at his school. “The students should understand why they learn something,” said Reiss. “And that is why we do many practical projects. They can use their knowledge in real situations.” One of these projects immediately caught the attention of the World eX community: a little electric race car built by his students. “This is our Formula E project,” said Reiss, showing slides of the car. “We took over this project from an engineer, and he worked on it for many years. Today he’s over eighty years old and he wants his life’s work to continue. So we decided we continue the project. We’ve already built one car.”
Around ten students, roughly aged 15 to 18, are currently working on a second car. “The project is also a great way to connect our work with physics lessons. Students can learn about mechanics, electronics and electrical engineering in a practical way,” said Reiss. “The first car is powered by two electric motors and reaches a top speed of about 65 km/h, comparable to a fast kart. “For the students, it’s a big thing,” said Reiss while pointing out pictures of teenagers working on the car in the school’s workshop.
A local mechanic from a Ford dealership in Bad Düben serves as the technical head of the project. Reiss’ own task is the less glamorous but vital part: “The biggest challenge is the funding. We are not a company, we are a school and we need supporters and people there want be a piece of the project. That’s my part.”
The link between racing and climate protection is obvious to him. Asked whether racing cars and sustainability can work together, he answered: “Yes, I think so. We have solar panels on the roof of the school. We can use the electricity to charge our race car. And I think this shows our students that technology, fun and sustainability can work together.” It is the same message that RCCO World eX wants to send with its fully electric World eX cars and its commitment to Racing For The Climate e.V.
For the moment, the students test their car on a quiet road near the school. “When we have two cars, then we want to race them,” said Reiss. “And then I think we need a racetrack.”
When asked about his goals and dreams, Reiss did not talk about results or lap times. “I think my biggest goal is to inspire young people,” he said. “Maybe they become interested in technology, and maybe later they can become engineers or technicians in the future.” In the short term, the focus is on finishing the second car and finding new supporters. The first car is a Ford because the support from the local Ford dealership. “Whatever the label for the second car may be, Porsche or BMW or Volkswagen or so, we need a supporter – they can become a part of this project.”