The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras launched its first electric racing car! Built completely by students of a group called Team Raftar, the formula car RF23 is the result of a year-long process in which the team undertook the design, manufacturing and testing, a press release from the institute said.

Team Raftar comprises 45 students from various disciplines and it is one of the competing teams for the Centre For Innovation (CFI) challenge at IIT Madras. "The team looks forward to representing India at the International level, fostering industry-standard engineering practices and nurturing real-world technical expertise among engineering students," said Professor V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, as per a report by PTI.
In terms of performance, the students expect to see significant improvements in speed and lap times in view of the higher power delivered by the electric drive, comparatively better than the earlier internal combustion engine model, the press note says. "Team Raftar aims to become the best Formula Student team in the world," said Professor Kamakoti. "It intends to promote Formula Student culture in the country with continuous innovation and sustainable technological advancement. After unveiling RF23, the shift from combustion to electric vehicles was just as drastic as it was necessary, keeping in line with the global trend of moving towards sustainable transportation," he added.

"With the global electric vehicle industry still in its nascent state, the potential for growth and technological advancement in this arena is huge. As a Formula Student team, Raftar specialises in designing, building and racing a high-performance race car every year to compete in Formula Student competitions against top engineering institutions around the world," he said further, as per PTI.