EVs dominate the Formula SAE-A event at Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne from December 14-17 with driverless car demonstrations included.
Teams from five countries will show their engineering achievements at the 22nd event, and 25 of the 31 vehicles entered are electric.
Run by the Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia (SAE-A), the event is the last phase of a year-long program for students from engineering schools in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Teams compete in business, cost and design presentations before taking to the track to assess acceleration, skid pad and autocross performance, efficiency and endurance.
SAE-A president Gary White says Calder Park makes the event much more accessible for the general public to visit.
“We’re hoping people will come to see the achievements of Australasia’s brightest and best young automotive engineers working in a competitive environment,” he says.
“There is no entry charge, and spectators are welcome to witness the presentations and workshop activity on the Thursday and Friday before the on-track action on the weekend.
“Visitors will also see a remarkable display of vehicles by our sponsors, highlighting Australia’s vibrant mobility engineering sector.”
All eyes will be on the two New Zealand teams which won outright last year – University of Auckland in the EV class and University of Waikato in the internal combustion (IC) class – leading a field representing every state of Australia as well as Taiwan, Japan and Indonesia.
Caterpillar is the major sponsor, showcasing its latest equipment along with Jack Miller’s amazing Cat-sponsored MotoGP World Championship motorcycle.
Applied EV is displaying its autonomous delivery vehicle featuring ‘Digital Backbone’ technology which combines state-of-the art software and hardware to control the vehicle.
Major industry sponsors are Ampol Charge, Toyota, Ford and Tesla, defence organisations ADF Careers, Supacat and Thales, and Henkel, Leap Australia and Transport for NSW.
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