Competition

The Formula Student is an international design competition for students, strongly based on the American Formula SAE. This Formula SAE was launched in 1981 by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in the USA as a university competition. Since then, there have been offshoots in 12 different countries. These have mostly very similar rules, so that the teams can take part in several events with their cars.

By participating in the Formula Student, prospective engineers gain practical experience in the areas of construction, teamwork or time and project management. However, one should not neglect the importance of the economic aspects within the team, because they have to finance themselves through sponsors and donations. Each year, the students plan, design and manufacture their own new Formula racing car, thereby improving their professional qualifications. English is spoken throughout the competition.

The competition is divided into two parts: Formula Student Combustion (FSC) and Formula Student Electric (FSE). The Formula Student Electric was introduced in 2010 and is held parallel to the Formula Student Combustion. In this class, the students are to design a purely electrically driven electric vehicle. But here there are restrictions:

• the maximum voltage is 600V DC
• the maximum power that can be taken from the batteries is 85 kW

The Formula Student Combustion designates the class with internal combustion engine drive. Here the following limitations apply to the engines:

• the engine has a maximum cylinder capacity of 610 cm³
• Circular air flow limiter behind the throttle valve with a diameter of 20 mm for petrol-powered internal combustion engines (19 mm for E85-powered internal combustion engines)