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We are UWashington Formula Motorsports: a team of 70 student engineers who design, build and compete with a Formula 1 style car every year. We strive to allow engineering students to learn and apply industry-relevant skills in the year-long task of rolling out a new car using cutting edge technology that isn’t found in lecture halls.

Over the years we enjoyed success in combustion events nationally and internationally, having won the combustion series in Nebraska and placing as high as 6th place in Germany, the most competitive event on the calendar.

This is our 31st year competing and the fourth in our transition to a single electric car. We aim to carry last year’s success in the US to two more competitions in Europe: we’re determined to win in FSAE California and be the first American team to pass electrical scrutineering at FS Germany, as well as compete for the very first time at Formula Student Austria.

These new events promise to bring us our toughest technical challenge yet and with it, a significant financial hurdle. With your help, we can achieve our crowdfunding goal of $15,000, which will be used for the purchase of crucial components such as batteries, tires, and motors, and help us bring the car overseas.

With your contribution, we can accomplish our longstanding goals and continue to represent UW Engineering across the world to produce the next generation of versatile engineers.

2018 was our first year focusing solely on the success of an electric car. That meant new motors, repackaged inverters, and lighter and more powerful cells that transmit power through redesigned gearboxes with the help of a new torque vectoring system. All were shrink-wrapped in a bespoke carbon-fiber monocoque, which came with new crash, fire and electrical hazard protection features.

With its unmatched capacity for acceleration, the electric motor is shaped for Formula racing. It brings much greater flexibility in drivetrain configuration and facilitates the development of torque vectoring and other powertrain optimization tools. As the industry shifts around us, this technical advantage plays hand in hand with our commitment to bring the most relevant training to our students.

And yet, an electric car brings much tougher safety requirements along with entirely different control systems and technical challenges. These new standards required us to build new documentation and resources for the following years, bringing us far from our combustion car roots.

Despite a few issues, our efforts paid off: we placed 2nd overall and 1st in endurance this past June in Nebraska. We also earned the runner up Innovation award for our crash structure, demonstrating our commitment to safety.

Since then we have continued to test and improve the T28 car, ironing out reliability issues and technical faults uncovered last year. In parallel, we have been hard at work designing the new T31 car, aiming it squarely at the toughest competition.

We are poised to be one of the first American Formula Student teams to bring a truly competitive electric car to Europe.

Contributions from our generous sponsors will ensure that we have the raw materials and facilities to complete manufacturing. However, this does not include the few elements we simply cannot make ourselves or competition expenses.

Funding will help pay for our battery’s cells, motors, and inverters. Furthermore, shipping the car to Europe costs upwards of $30,000! This is a breakdown of how the funding will be used.

Competition expenses include registration, equipment, and transportation as we trek across the US and into Europe.

Help us bring our car to life!

In the electric competition, European teams tend to outperform their US counterparts. To be as prepared as possible, we have set a very aggressive timeline for the year.

The manufacturing quarter has just begun! Coming out of the design phase, we are prepared to lay up the chassis, mill suspension components, and produce our best vehicle yet!

Follow our work at uwformulamotorsports.com or on our Facebook Page!

Stay tuned as we start piecing the car together!