IIT Bombay Racing's Transition From Combustion To Electric

The future is electric. Recently, there has been a push toward electric mobility. India, one of the largest car markets in the world is also riding the electric wave as quite a few car manufacturers are finally sending their electric cars to Indian shores. Indian car manufacturers, the likes of Tata Motors and Mahindra are also offering a range of electric cars for the Indian market. The Indian college racing circuit is also seeing a lot of teams looking to switch from combustion to electric. IIT Bombay Racing is one of India’s best electric Formula Student teams and also the first college racing team from India to go electric. We are going to tell you about their transition from combustion to electric.

IIT Bombay Racing was established in 2008 by a team of IIT Bombay students looking to leverage their theoretical studies and put it into practice by building a formula race car. The team initially started building combustion race cars, which were powered by a combustion engine. Successful race seasons and a few years later, the team decided they were up for another challenge. Wanting to venture into something more challenging, willing to compete and be the best in the international arena. Researching various trends around the world and quickly realizing the need for electric mobility. Electric mobility has quite a few advantages such as – it is cost-effective, eco-friendly, cheaper to maintain. More importantly IIT Bombay Racing would enter unchartered territory and be the first college racing team from India to go electric. IIT Bombay Racing decided to go electric in 2010. The electric challenge was not going to be an easy one for the team members at IIT Bombay Racing, they did not have experience in building an electric car and were also the first college team from India who had ventured into building an electric formula race car.

While the team was adept with building a combustion race car, EV technology was a completely different ball game; there are several changes in batteries and powertrain. An electric requires different components when compared to a combustion one, hence team IIT Bombay Racing had to deal with a new set of suppliers with new timelines. IIT Bombay Racing participates in Formula Student UK. The switch to electric meant that IIT Bombay Racing had to adhere to the guidelines and rules laid down by Formula Student UK - the changes included a lot of safety improvements, a completely new manufacturing process and a new rejig of the mechanical subsystems to be in line with the new electric set up. The Formula Student rule book is a very important element of the competition and all participating teams must strictly abide by it. The rule book contains various industrial and electrical safety standards teams must follow. A technical scrutineering takes place at the event to ensure all rules are followed and safety shutdown systems are operating in case of an emergency.

According to Jasdeep Singh, the Marketing Head of IIT Bombay Racing, college racing competitions are actively promoting the use of battery over fuel and the market also plays an important role in helping switch from CV to EV. The batteries on the electric cars of IIT Bombay Racing are lithium-ion ones. There are 96 cells connected in series having a max voltage of 403V and a total stored energy of 7.8 kWh. Powering the car are 2 electric motors, each producing 50kW of max power output and a combined output of 80kW. Both the motors can be used separately with the help of an electronic differential; this is helpful while turning. Some of the salient features of Team IIT Bombay Racing are – self-designed battery management system, in-house manufactured bodyworks, aerodynamics, battery box using composite materials. Being pioneers in the electric college racing circuit of India team IIT Bombay has worked closely with industry giants such as Wipro to make 3D printed titanium uprights and also HP Lubricants to develop customized gearbox oil. Sponsors, partners play a vital role in a race team by providing the necessary financial, technical and organizational support where required. This has been the case with IIT Bombay Racing as well. NRB Bearings has been the title sponsor for IIT Bombay Racing for a very long time and has guided the team with regard to organizational structure, decision making and providing resources. Technical giant TE Connectivity has helped IIT Bombay Racing towards electrical development and PCB Power has supported the team in manufacturing PCB (Printed Circuit Boards).

The transition from combustion to electric is not an easy one to make. IIT Bombay Racing being India’s first college racing team has been there and done that before anyone else! With their experience and expertise, IIT Bombay Racing is playing a very important role for many college racing teams in India who are keen to make the switch from combustion to electric. According to Namya Bagree, the Team Leader of IIT Bombay Racing teams find it difficult to find the starting point to make the switch and IIT Bombay Racing helps new teams understand the difference between two with the help of various calculations and simulations. Having collected a lot of data over the past 7 years, IIT Bombay Racing also sometimes shares the same with other teams in order to help them in making better design decisions.

IIT Bombay Racing believes the way forward for electric mobility in India should be spreading awareness, education about the basic knowledge of electric vehicles; how to design and manufacture them. Being a part of an FSAE team is a great way to learn and overcome such challenges. There is a need for increased collaborations between industry giants and college racing teams like IIT Bombay Racing. Such collaborations are a win-win for both the team as well as the corporates. The teams get to learn on new technology and its implementation in their cars and the corporates get access to a great future talent pool. IIT Bombay Racing continues to be the undisputed leader in the electric college racing circuit of India and is actively helping other teams to uplift the entire Indian FSAE community.