Making forays into the electric vehicle segment, the students of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras have launched the first-of-its-kind electric formula racing car on Monday at the campus.

Designated as “RFR23”, this car has been completely made by the students who are part of Team Raftar. In their year-long effort, they designed, manufactured and tested the vehicle. There are 45 students in this team hailing from diverse disciplines.

The students expect that the electric drive’s higher power will result in notable improvements in the speed and lap times of race cars as compared to earlier internal combustion engine models.

The objective of the Team is to showcase India on an international stage by promoting best engineering practices acceptable to the industry while simultaneously developing engineering students’ practical technical skills. They want to become the best formula student team in the world by consistent innovation.

The Team competes every year in Formula Student contests against the best engineering schools from around the world. They also want to make the first autonomous race car by 2025 to compete in the “Driverless” division of the Formula Student contests.

Professor V. Kamakoti, IIT-M Director during the unveiling of RFR23 said: “The switch from combustion to the electric vehicle was just as drastic as it was necessary, keeping with the global trend of moving towards sustainable transportation. The worldwide market for electric vehicles is still in its infancy, therefore there is enormous room for expansion and technological development.”