Formula Electric and Hybrid Italy an international competitive and sport event, initiated by ATA as Formula TECH in 2005, with the objective of promoting innovation developed in academic institutions across the world and applied to sustainable ecological mobility.
Students from universities and technical institutions can participate with complete vehicles, designed and made up by themselves and compete with dynamic tests such as endurance, acceleration, energy consumption, autocross and climbing ability, following specific rules set up by a technical committee.
Formula Electric and Hybrid aims to encourage students and graduate engineers to participate with new ideas and innovative solutions to reduce the environmental impact and improve the energy efficiency of various types of vehicles supplied by different energy sources.
Formula EHI welcomes:
• Four wheel cars, single seat, formula style body (as for Formula Hybrid), powered by hybrid or battery electric, solar, or fuel cell power train.
• Two or three or four wheel vehicles (without formula constraints), powered by the same types of power train as above.
• Systems, Components and Projects.
The Student Teams are evaluated and awarded by a Technical Committee, formed by experts in the field from industry and institutions, the basis of the characteristics and performance of the vehicles, their level of innovation and the industrial aspects.
The outcome of the event is expected to be beneficial for a cross fertilisation of initiatives of academic institutions, for the interaction between university and industry in terms of technology innovations and for the diffusion of the culture of the ecological vehicles.
Formula Electric and Hybrid Italy will offer an overview of the advanced technologies in the field of electrically propelled road vehicles, encompassing the various types of power train and energy supply systems within the application to diversified types of vehicles and of use.
The battery electric vehicles are especially suitable for urban operation: they do not pollute, are almost noiseless and allow an highly effective use of energy, also due to the energy recovery during braking.
The electric energy supply can be profitably complemented with the integration of solar photovoltaic panels, to further improve the energy effectiveness.
The thermal-electric hybrid systems are based on the integration of an electric power train with a thermal engine, according to different possible architectures.
By means of power management strategies, the global system output can be optimised with reduction of energy consumption and emissions and with improvement of vehicle operational performance.
The vehicle can be fed by a double source of energy, fuel and electricity ("plug-in hybrid").
In the fuel cell vehicles, the hydrogen stored on board reacts with the oxygen of the air, producing water and electricity, to feed the electric powertrain.
Since 2012 ATA organizes a single event which includes internal combustion and full electric vehicles.