The Grand Prix Engineering (GPE) Team is hard at work building their first electric car having only previously worked with internal combustion engines. This is an entirely new undertaking that has been a two-year process. The team plans to compete with its new electric vehicle at the Formula SAE Competition this June in Motor City, Michigan.

“This has really been a two-year transition,” said senior mechanical engineering major Alex Spitzer, president of Rose GPE. “Last year, we didn’t get the car finished. But we took what we learned in that process and are using it to build our first electric car.” 

The team is currently manufacturing the car and will have a rolling chassis by the end of the winter quarter. Spitzer admits transitioning from internal combustion to electric is a “whole new ballgame” since the team has been working with internal combustion engines for about 12 years.

The GPE team worked on the design all summer and is using the fall quarter to build the car while also doing CAD and validation work. Students will begin the manufacturing process in winter and will spend spring testing the vehicle.

Rose GPE has approximately 20 active members working on the car. In the past, the team has been comprised mainly of mechanical engineering students. But because the car is now an electric vehicle, the team has broadened to include more students majoring in electrical engineering and computer engineering as they have the necessary experience with those subsystems.