Students from two universities in Flanders have presented an electric race car that will compete in events across Europe this summer.
Formula Electric Belgium, which is a team made up of 21 students from KU Leuven and Thomas More, built a car called Umicore Eclipse to compete in the Formula Student competition, according to New Mobility. The students had nine months to build the car, and they developed all of the car's 4,000 parts themselves.
The Formula Student competition is a worldwide effort to encourage students to become hands-on engineers. It was introduced in Europe in 1998. Besides students building a race car, they must also create a business plan and present their car to a panel of experts.
The races will take place in the Netherlands, Italy, and the Czech Republic, and the students hope to reach the podium each time. Last year the team's car was named the most innovative of the competition.
This year, Formula Electric Belgium will focus on data collection during races. While someone will be driving the car this summer, the team hopes to develop a self-driving vehicle for next year's competition.
Sam Nelson
The Brussels Times
