“Energizing Chemistry” is the slogan of the specialty chemicals group LANXESS, “Electrifiying Motorsport” that of racing team eMotorsports Cologne. But there is more in common between the two Cologne-based organizations than their similar slogans – they also share a focus on future forms of mobility. That is why LANXESS has decided to become a premium sponsor of the young team from TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences and thereby support Formula Student – a design competition with more than 900 universities worldwide.
Further driving with lightweight materials
“Autonomous driving, e-mobility, and new infrastructure concepts are changing the automotive landscape – and with it the plastics industry. By 2025, around 80 percent of all vehicles produced worldwide will have alternative drives,” explains Jan Bender, head of marketing in the LANXESS High Performance Materials (HPM) Business Unit in the EMEA region. This future has already begun for Formula Student: since 2009, the team of 35 students from eMotorsports Cologne has been designing electrically powered racing cars. The team consists of passionate, young engineers from TH Köln. Every year, new, highly motivated team members from various courses of study organize themselves to develop and build racing cars completely on their own. “We want to be a pioneer, promote innovation, and shape the future of e-mobility. Our cars combine the latest engineering insights and cutting-edge technology to change the world of motorsport – and we’ve been doing it for nine years now,” explains Alexander Lerch, team leader of eMotorsports Cologne.
With its high performance plastics, LANXESS offers lightweight construction solutions – even for electric vehicles
LANXESS is also helping build the car of the future – though mainly those used off the racetrack: “We develop high performance plastics for lightweight construction applications for every area of the automobile. In addition to body elements, plastics are replacing traditional steel structures in the chassis and drive system,” Bender explains. The principle is comparable to that of the human skeleton, whereby the fibers in the composite materials provide the necessary stability to the plastics under stress. This trick makes it possible to produce plastic components in areas where the material was previously considered unsuitable. Even highly stressed brake pedals can now be made from fiberglass-reinforced plastic. This design reduces the weight of the brake pedal by more than 40 percent.
“The spirit, commitment, and passion to realize innovative electrical concepts impressed the team here at HPM and inspired us to support the young racing team at TH Köln as a premium sponsor,” explains Bender. “Electric racing cars must be extremely light to achieve the necessary range. With our experience, we feel we can certainly contribute in this regard.”
Formula Student Germany
Formula Student Germany (FSG) is an international design competition for students that has been held annually since 2006 by Formula Student Germany e.V. under the patronage of The Association of German Engineers. Every year, students from all over the world meet for five days at the Hockenheimring to test their self-constructed racing cars against each other in a Formula 1 atmosphere. The event also provides them with an opportunity to showcase their work to experts from the industry. The aim is to construct and manufacture a single-seat formula racing car and compete and win against teams from all over the world. At Formula Student, however, it isn’t the fastest car that wins, but the team with the best overall blend of design, race performance, financial planning, and sales arguments.
The aim of Formula Student is to supplement university studies with intensive experience in design and production as well as the economic aspects of automotive engineering. For instance, the race car must have excellent driving characteristics in terms of acceleration, braking force, and handling; at the same time, it must be inexpensive, reliable, and easy to operate. Its market value is further increased by other factors such as aesthetics, comfort, and the use of standard production parts.
The challenge for the teams is to design and build a prototype that best meets these requirements. A jury of experts from the motorsport, automotive, and supplier industries determine the best vehicle by evaluating the construction, cost, and business plans of each team in the static disciplines. The students then have to prove their self-constructed car’s abilities on the racetrack in various dynamic disciplines.
