"In the previous months, we have focused on eliminating the weak points of last year's monoposto. We found weaknesses in the battery, cooling, and the weight of the monoposto," said team captain Jan Cába.
The new formula is 20 kilograms lighter than last year's model. The intention to make it weigh less than 190 kilograms has been successful. The team captain singled out the new powertrain and battery as the most significant changes that have contributed significantly.
"The current battery can recuperate up to 120 kilowatts. This means we don't need to brake with mechanical brakes on a classic endurance race, as we will be able to recuperate most of the energy and put it back into the battery. This also makes the battery significantly lighter," described Jan Cába. "To do this, we have optimised the cooling system and developed new casings for the motor. This is also a significant development," added the captain.
The team has to react quickly to the demands of the race organisers, which change every year. One of the major rule changes is forbidding active aerodynamics to extract air from under the car. "The forbidding wasn't issued until the end of 2024. At that time, we had to modify the design of our formula and change the entire aerodynamic package. To improve the front wing, to make more complex elements so that we could make up for the overall downforce by no longer having active aerodynamics, but more complicated sub-elements," explained Jan Cába. He pointed out that it was a big intervention, but the team managed it because they had partially anticipated this development.
The busy racing season is coming
The team is expecting a busy racing schedule this year. "We will start on July 12 in the Netherlands. We will drive only in a piloted car in this race," said Jan Cába. "On July 28, we will race in Hungary, and on August 4, we will race in the Czech Republic - in Most," he added. He noted that these races will be important tests for the main event of the season. This will be the race in Hockenheim, Germany, on August 18.
Over 800 university teams from all over the world take part in the Formula Student races each year. The competition focuses not only on driving performance but also on the design, financial strategy, and presentation skills of the students. "This allows teams to showcase their comprehensive engineering and management skills," concluded Jan Cába.
Last season was very successful for eForce
The eForce Prague Formula team from CTU had a successful season in 2024. The season culminated in winning the driverless category at the Formula SAE Italy competition. At this event, the team dominated in all dynamic disciplines of the unmanned category and also won a silver medal in the static discipline of the Engineering Design Event. In the electrical category, the team placed fifth, achieving third place in the Engineering Design Event discipline and second place in the Efficiency discipline. Previous successes include third place at the prestigious Formula Student Germany competition and victory in the autonomous category at the FS Czech home competition in Most. The team started the season with a fifth-place finish at FS Austria, where they presented the new CTU.24 monoposto for the first time.
Photo credit: Petr Neugebauer
