University electric racing car team wins at Silverstone

The University’s electric racing car team triumphed at the annual Formula Student competition at Silverstone race track – the home of the British Grand Prix.

Formula Student is Europe’s most established educational engineering competition, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Over 100 university teams and 4,000 students from around the world compete annually in both static and dynamic events at Silverstone.

Students compete in two different classes of competition. Class 1 involves racing physically-built vehicles, while Class 2 is focused on design concepts.

As a Class 2 team, UPRacing Electric developed a detailed project concept, alongside a plan to deliver an electric car in the future. They were judged on three categories, and took pole position in both Cost and Manufacturing, and Business.

UPRacing Electric Team Leader Oliver Plucknett, a Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering student, said “We’re delighted with the win, especially considering it’s only the second year we’ve entered an electric vehicle team. We’ve been working to design our own battery to go into the vehicle and we’ve been very lucky to work with sponsors this year to be able to make that happen. The plan is to move into Class 1 next year.”

Combustion team progress

The University also entered a combustion team for the 11th year. As a Class 1 team, UPRacing entered a physical vehicle, and took part in a series of events, all designed to test how well the car has been engineered and designed. The team climbed 7 places in the table compared to their last performance finishing 42nd out of 81 teams.

UPRacing combustion Team Leader Liam Rudd, said: “With a team of around 60 multidisciplinary students, our challenge was to build of a fully functional vehicle, to compete in the dynamic events.

“Students can gain a host of skills across the board, which develop far beyond the curriculum. Although the learning curve is steep, it is extremely rewarding to see your car race at the famous circuit at the end of the year. My gratitude extends to every single supporter and partner who makes this possible for us.’

Get involved in Formula Student

While Formula Student is primarily an engineering competition, students from across the University can get involved. This year, students from the Faculty of Business and Law have helped with presentations and promotion.

Oliver and the team recommend the experience to anyone: “The project allows you to fill in gaps in your learning, and pick up soft skills – which will help you in later life. And you get to learn from and work collaboratively with students on other courses, from engineering to business studies. Doing a project like this lets you stand out on that extracurricular level when you apply for jobs.”

Find out more via the UPRacing Electric Facebook page.