KTH Formula Student is recharging for its twentieth car
For over two decades the formula student team at KTH has been building a race car and representing KTH at competitions across Europe. In total 19 cars have been built, and they are now gearing up to design their 20th car.
Formula student is the largest student engineering competition in the world. University teams from across the world compete in building the best race car every year which they then compete against each other with. Over the years, cars in competition have evolved significantly, transitioning from combustion to electric, and from manually driven to autonomous. We are now even beginning to see the advent of hydrogen-powered vehicles. Outside of racing the car against other teams you also compete in various events where you prove your engineering expertise. In these events defend your design choices, walk through the costs involved or present a hypothetical startup idea revolving around some system on the car.
Formula Student provides unparalleled practical experience, preparing students for post-academic careers by involving them in all stages of a project, from organizational planning to manufacturing and testing. This hands-on approach is crucial for developing skilled engineers.
The History of Formula Student at KTH
KTH Formula Student has existed since 2003. The team has since then been through 3 major epochs, it all began with the R series cars that were combustion driven, after that the Re series was made. These cars were the first electrically driven cars the team produced. Ever since then the team has been building electrical cars in the Re, EV and DeV series. DeV is also the current series, it is a fully electric car that has 4 motors, one in each wheel, and can drive completely autonomously. It is a platform which has been completely developed by students, everything from the battery to the carbon fibre monocoque to the control systems controlling everything. This summer KTHFS competed in FSA and FSG which in the later they were one of only 40 teams to complete the endurance event and they competed in their first ever driverless events.