含羞草传媒

'It's a team effort': Electric car sparks international success for U of T students

含羞草传媒 Formula Racing Team heads to Europe after triumphs in U.S.
""

The 含羞草传媒 Formula Racing team鈥檚 new electric vehicle took part in the Formula SAE Electric competition at the Michigan International Speedway (photo by Trevor Foote)

Five months after unveiling their first electric-powered vehicle, the undergraduate students who make up the (UTFR) team are having a stellar season, earning some of their best results in over 15 years.

Now is bound for Europe, following strong showings in competitions in the United States.

For more than two decades, UTFR has enabled undergraduates at U of T to gain experience designing and building open-wheel race cars for competitions around the world. 

These competitions showcase the capabilities of the car on the track as well as the skills of the team that designed it 鈥 and, in many cases, provide a career boost to graduating students. 

The 2022 season represented a milestone for the team 鈥 for the first time, UTFR made the decision to design an electric-powered vehicle.

鈥淭he transition to electric was challenging,鈥 says team captain Daniel Wing, an engineering science student in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had about 23 years of experience developing a combustion-powered car every year and our initial aspiration was to develop the new electric car under that same timeframe.鈥

""
The UTFR team celebrated their first overall win since 2006 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway
(photo by Trevor Foote)

However, 2022 would prove to be a difficult year to make the switch to electric. Alongside the challenges of developing the new electric powertrain architecture for the vehicle, the team faced setbacks stemming from supply chain issues, including a microchip shortage.

鈥淲e had to shift our timeframe and say, 鈥楾his is one of the first years we鈥檙e not going to build a new car,鈥 and shift our focus onto preparing for 2023," Wing says.

In May of this year, UTFR returned to competitions. Their new electric car made its on-track debut at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway as a part of the .

Over four days, UTFR and 20 other student teams competed in events that tested the acceleration, durability and maneuverability of the cars, as well as the team鈥檚 project management and engineering design skills. After completing all five events, UTFR placed first in the overall competition.

鈥淲e were fortunate to come away with a win at New Hampshire because our philosophy of reliability ties well into the longer-endurance events that are run there,鈥 says Wing.  

鈥淭hat was our first overall win at any competition since 2006. To have it be our first competition with our first electric car inspired so much confidence.鈥 

Shortly after competing in New Hampshire, the UTFR team travelled to Michigan to participate in , the largest Formula SAE competition in North America. 

Competing against 68 other teams, UTFR demonstrated strength in the endurance and efficiency events, tying their all-time best result at Michigan with an overall position of fifth place.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

With two successful competitions behind them, the UTFR team is looking to extend their successful streak as they ship their car overseas to compete in two Formula Student events in Europe 鈥 one in the Czech Republic, and the other in Germany, which is the largest Formula Student competition in the world.

These competitions will not only further test the team鈥檚 new electric architecture, but will debut their self-driving system.

鈥淏ecause this is our first year competing with a self-driving car, we鈥檙e focusing on the driverless acceleration and skid-pad events,鈥 Wing says.

鈥淭hese events are simpler and will get our baseline systems running, but we鈥檝e developed our architecture to be scalable.鈥

UTFR was at the Honda Indy event at Exhibition Place over the weekend to showcase the team's work to racing enthusiasts.

"We design and manufacture these cars within an eight-month cycle and then we compete for four months," Emily Wright, the team's business director and a management and international business student at U of T Scarborough, .

Reflecting on one of the most successful starts to a season in team history, Wing believes that what sets UTFR apart from other teams is a unique approach to design.

鈥淥ur philosophy this year is maybe uncommon among a lot of engineering teams 鈥 our priority is to focus on building a team first, and the car will come with that," Wing explains.

鈥淓ven though it鈥檚 the car out there with the driver on track, it鈥檚 all of us that work to make it happen and get the car as ready as it can be to perform as well as it can on any given day. We鈥檙e also grateful for the support from the faculty and our generous industry sponsors. It鈥檚 a team effort.鈥 

The Bulletin Brief logo

Subscribe to The Bulletin Brief

UTC