Vacuum Pump for Electric Vehicle

The students, who compete under the name “Dart Racing Team,” laminated vehicle parts and aerodynamic components with the help of the R5 RA in a process known as vacuum infusion. They coated carbon fiber with a layer of resin and pressed it through the fiber under vacuum. The result was a very lightweight yet strong composite material. This is particularly important when building racing cars, as their speed also depends on their weight. The Dart Racing Team’s vehicle weighs only around 220 kg. The quality of the elements produced in the vacuum infusion process also depends on the vacuum pump.

The Dart Racing Team car runs on four electric motors, developed by the students themselves, and a 550 V battery. Its maximum output is 229 hp. This allows the vehicle to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just under three seconds under good conditions. This year, the team is taking part in the Formula Student competition at the Hockenheimring in Germany, as well as events in Hungary, the Czechia and Italy. It consists of almost 40 students from different departments like computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. By participating in the Formula Student competition, they are gaining practical experience for their future careers.

It is not just the TU Darmstadt team that our company supports, but also other Student Formula teams. For example, Joanneum Racing from Graz in Austria, Curtin Motorsport from Perth, Australia, and Green Team Twente from Enschede in the Netherlands, which competes as a hydrogen racing team.

Formula Student is an international design competition for students in which around 500 universities from around the world participate.