Team Swinburne will be out to defend its title in a race of electric proportions.
With the last three titles under its belt, the team unveiled the latest vehicle it will enter in the electric division of the Society of Automotive Engineers Australasia Formula -SAE competition at Victoria University’s Werribee campus this week.
The F-SAE program asks final year engineering and business students to design, build, market and race a formula race car.
Team Swinburne, which includes students from a wide range of disciplines and year levels, is led by Jonathan Wolf, who said the objective was to produce a powerful, reliable and lightweight car.
The team implemented a new electric-powered motor and shaved as much weight off the components as possible.
“The chassis is aluminium honeycomb, carbon fibre monocoque as opposed to a traditional chromyl steel space frame,” Mr Wolf said.
“With the drivetrain we’ve got a dual chain and sprocket arrangement as opposed to gearbox and spool arrangement.”
The car, which is 100 per cent carbon neutral, has a different look to the 2012 model, with the team designing a new concept aerodynamics package.
The event, held from December 12-15, will be the culmination of a year of hard work for the team, which included taking part in a CNC machining course so they could manufacture parts for the car.
