University of Alberta students looking for a win with EV Formula 1 car

The UA-24, an electric Formula 1 car designed and built by student engineers from the university's Formula SAE club, was unveiled April 6, 2024. (Sean Amato/CTV News Edmonton)

A team of University of Alberta engineers are hoping to race their way to a win at an international design competition.

The UA-24 is an electric Formula 1 car designed and built by student engineers from the university's Formula SAE club.

The prototype took 10 months to build, and it was unveiled Saturday at the Porsche Centre Edmonton.

Formula SAE is an international student design competition, where students create and showcase prototype cars to be judged by industry professionals.

The UA-24 will be tested at the Strawberry Creek Raceway near Thorsby before heading to Michigan International Speedway in June to race against 120 other teams.

"We're going to compete against them and hopefully get in the top 10, if not the top five," said Michael Buchel, business lead at the University of Alberta.

Buchel said the team has never broken into the top 10, but he's hopeful this prototype will take them there.

"We have some really, really great engineers," he added.

This is the first EV the club has built since it was created in 1998. This year's team will also be the first Alberta team to send an EV to the international competition.

The prototype will be driven by one of the engineers.

Buchel said driving skills and time spent on the team are usually what get a student the job, but this year will be a bit different.

"This year we're going to have to take height into consideration, as we had to move the seat up to account for our battery and converter," he added.

For more information on the UA-24, visit the University of Alberta FSAE team website.