An End-Of-The-Year Report from Bulldogs Racing

In 2013, Bulldogs Racing took top prize in the 2013 Formula Hybrid International at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The club, a student group sponsored by SEAS that builds hybrid gas-electric race cars, seeks to reclaim the title in 2016 by building what could be one of the fastest electric cars in the U.S. It's an ambitious project, and they're making good progress.

Taha Z. Ramazanoglu, president of Bulldogs Racing, gives us this end-of-year report:

"After a year of hard work designing their new car from the ground up, Bulldogs Racing is currently busy building what will become Yale's first all-electric race car to compete at the Formula North, Formula SAE Hybrid and Electric events in the summer of 2016. Powered by two 80 kW electric motors driving the rear wheels through dedicated single speed gearboxes, the new race car will weigh about 550 lbs, not including the driver. With a 0-to-60 mph time of about 2.4 seconds and a top speed of 90 mph, not only will it become the quickest student-built race car in the western hemisphere, it will also help the team reclaim the world champions title from 2013.

"Over the fall semester, the team has made enormous progress: the chassis has been built, the drivetrain and the accumulator box have been designed and production has started on the battery stacks and structural mounts. The engineers have finalized the suspension geometry and the body design; the business team is on the last round of fundraising. The team is very excited and looking forward to represent Yale Engineering at the top of the competition in the international Formula SAE intercollegiate events."