IIT Bombay Racing launched their new electric car Orca (named after the toothed whale) at its Powai campus on Sunday. The car, their entry in the Formula Student UK competition at Silverstone next month, is not one of those sedate vehicles that the term ‘electric car’ brings to mind: it has theoretical acceleration of 0 to 100 kmph in 3.47 seconds.
Formula Student UK is a four-day event which sees cars from 30 to 40 countries in Europe, Australia and South East Asia participating. This is the fifth year that IIT Bombay Racing is in the race, and its fifth car. They have won the Formula Student award for three years .
IIT Bombay Racing was started eight years ago by Rishabh Bhandari and seven other students. They built a racing car and started participating in inter-collegiate competitions. They didn’t have much success initially, but five years ago, they won the Baja Series in Indore. After that, they decided to build electric cars and compete internationally. Today, the team is 75 strong — a mix of second, third and fourth year students — divided into three divisions: electrical, mechanical and organisational.
It isn’t a smooth run for them, though. Money is a major constraint; then there are import restrictions and stringent customs regulation. But, Rushabh Kapasi, team leader of the project, told The Hindu, the team has stayed focussed and worked very hard: “Since last June, we have had only two days off. We have no free weekends and work as a team day in and day out. It gets difficult at times to manage this along with classes and exams. However, it is all worth it at the end as this has been a wonderful experience.” They do have the support of their institute, which provides them with money, time, space to work and equipment. “The professors are helpful as well, they are always approachable and constantly guide us,” Mr. Kapasi said.
The Orca has seen several advancements over last year’s car. And the team, which includes four racing drivers who practice daily on campus, are determined to do better. Mr. Kapasi said, “We finished 56th last year, however, we are extremely hopeful of finishing in the top 20 this year.”
The writer is an intern at The Hindu
It was difficult to manage this along with classes and exams. However,
it is all worth it
Rushabh KapasiTeam leader
