For our mechanical engineering capstone project at the University of Washington, a few team members and I are attempting to
turn the school’s Formula SAE car into an all-electric, eco-friendly, racing machine.
The project hopes to incorporate the latest technology in Lithium based batteries which can be recharged in as little as 15 minutes, faster than the batteries will be run down.
This would allow the car to run continuously between two sets of batteries:
while one set is charging, the other is in the vehicle. It is a demonstration of no compromises in either usability or performance, when switching to clean, quiet, simple, all electric drive.
In the grand scheme of things, the project attends to a growing need to reduce energy costs and move to more environmentally friendly energy sources, leading the way to a better future. This will
help educate people about electricity and battery power as a viable alternative fuel. We hope to show our project to as many eyes as possible once it is complete. This includes UW's
Engineering Discovery Days where prospective student engineers would be able to see the car up close in person, and the UW Formula SAE hosted
Dawg Sled and Dawg Dash autocrosses that will allow the vehicle performance to be shown off to regional motor enthusiasts.
Additionally, it is the first effort to prepare the UW Formula SAE team for future electric vehicle competitions such as
Formula SAE Hybrid and Formula Student Electric where student designed and manufactured vehicles are put to the ultimate test.
Formula Student Electric, for example, began just over a year ago with 15 entrants in 2010, 31 entrants earlier this year, and potentially doubling again in
2012. As these competitions rapidly grow in entrees, they undoubtly drive student engineers to successful carear paths. UW does not want to be too late to the fight!
