While other students were busy preparing for exams, 30 students of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) were engaged in designing an electric formula car. The car is designed such that it can easily compete with 109 other cars at the Silverstone Formula Racing track. The event will be held in Northamptonshire, United Kingdom from July this year.
The car, which is still to be christened, is the first ever attempt made by any group of students throughout the country to come up with a Formula car. As per Urmil Shah, a student of mechanical engineering at IIT-B and the captain of the team designing the car, said that the annual Formula Student sees teams of students from different universities across the globe. These teams race their cars and compete to grab the top positions across various categories.
Shah said, “The last attempt by IITians was in 2009 when a chip powered car was made. This time, we are attempting to make a car that will operate on electric power from lithium polymer batteries. As the concept of electric powered cars is fast catching on, we want our institute to be the first to give it a try.”
He further added that the car will weigh around 300 kg, which will be around 70 kg more than the models that have registered wins in the past. However, the team is fairly sure that it will step ahead of its competitors on the grounds of acceleration and speed. Owing to a performance oriented engine, the vehicle will have the potential to smoothly move from 0 to 60 kmph within a span of 3.5 seconds and reach top speed of 115 kmph quite easily.
On the other hand, the team does not have all the components of the car, but it is speculated that it will be ready for a test drive by the mid of May 2012. The production version of the racing vehicle will cost around Rs. 16 lacs. Shah, further added, “We will have a month to test the car before it is shipped to the UK in June.”
