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ELECTRIC DREAMS - USM21

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In line with real world trends of electrification, the Formula Student competition has enjoyed a surge of EV teams worldwide. For us at USM, it was an obvious choice - from a vehicle performance perspective, as well as the chance to innovate in a drive toward net-zero. Committing the switch from combustion to electric 3 years ago, USM began the ground work for the move back in 2019...

2019

  • Points Trade-Off Conducted

  • E-Powertrain Research and Development

  • Accumulator Design begins

  • Motor and Motor Controller Specified

2020

  • System Design begins

  • Powertrain Major Procurement

  • Drivetrain Integration work

2021

  • Lockdown and Project Halt

  • Combustion Car Revived to run at FSUK21

  • Final procurement complete

  • Build now underway

2022

  • Car attended FSUK 2022, passing key electrical scrutineering

  • Working to get motor operational and car running ASAP

 

USM21 POWERTRAIN

Engine

Chassis

Wheels

Tyres

Suspension

Emrax 228 with chain drive

Mild Steel Spaceframe, dacron body panels

DWT AlumiLite Sport Blue Label

R25B 16x7.5 10x7

Double wishbone, direct actuated front, pushrod actuated rear with torsional ARB

Aerodynamics

Custom 5-element carbon fibre front wing

Custom 5-element carbon fibre rear wing

Custom 2-element carbon fibre side wing

Weight

236 Kg

Transitioning to be all-electric has certainly proved a challenge! Our Head of E-Powertrain, Dominik Lajkep, had the following to say: 

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"The most difficult aspect of going electric was the sheer amount of new technologies that we suddenly had to work with without any foundations to build on. But we rose to the challenge - taking a step back and thinking from the ground up."

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With manufacture ongoing, the entire team is focused on delivering 3 years of hard work. We look forward to getting USM21 on track and witnessing our electric dreams come true.

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After a huge push to have USM21 ready for FSUK 2022, it was disappointing not to see the car run. However, we won the cost event and gained invaluable feedback from the FSUK 2022 events, especially in electrical scrutineering. We are now working as hard as we can to get our motor spinning correctly and hope to begin on-track testing in the near future. 

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We have many exciting new acquisitions in terms of sensors and we hope to gather huge amounts of data when USM21 begins testing. This will help us greatly in validating current designs and planning future ones.

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