Newly launched Formula Student Africa aims to break the mold by leading e-mobility on the African continent.

Author: Junaid Samodien

Formula Student, a student engineering competition held annually in the United Kingdom, sees student teams around the world design, build, test, and race a small-scale Formula style racing car, but the newly launched Formula Student Africa (FSA) programme will differ slightly, as it aims to focus primarily on e-mobility in Africa.

FSA will be supported by partners, the University of Warwick and Warwick Racing, E-Movement, and Paramount Global, to help drive it’s aim to educate audiences on e-mobility and related skills development opportunities, upskill graduates and mechanics, and create a pipeline of engineering, commerce and technology talent to accelerate e-mobility and related sustainability industries in Africa. 

This will be achieved with the development of various programmes, activations, events and edutainment content with job creation, as a sole focus in a number of industries including: computing, manufacturing, installation, maintenance, racing, solar, supply chains, mining, and the legal industry in terms of regulation and policymaking. FSA will also provide many possibilities for start-ups and entrepreneurs.

“While the rest of the world takes steps towards a zero-emission transportation sector and leveraging e-mobility to create opportunities and jobs, we know that Africa is capable of doing far more and doing it faster,” Alex McLeod, founder of Formula Student Africa, said. 

“Mobility is a fundamental lifeline that connects people to jobs, education and critical services. E-mobility creates even more opportunities around these.” 

PHOTO CREDIT: University of Warwick/Warwick Racing.

Students from the University of Warwick and Warwick Racing were present at the launch of FSA in Cape Town. These students will help to share knowledge on the building and racing EV vehicles, as they hope to help drive the electrification of transport in and around Africa.

“We are one of the leaders [for Formula Student Africa]. So, we work closely with Formula Student, as a company and Alex [McLeod] to establish all the rules, and help universities like UCT start this competition,” Jan Stebnicki, Chief of Business Operations at Warwick Racing said.

Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) are among six South African universities, including the University of Cape Town, University of Johannesburg, University of South Africa, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the University of the Witwatersrand, who have already signed up for the series. 

DID YOU KNOW: CPUT made history in 2012, when they became

the first South African university to compete

 in Formula Student (UK), and later returned to compete in 2014. 

The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University based in Port Elizabeth have also announced their intentions to collaborate with the University of Warwick’s WMG with their research into EV batteries. 

So, what does the Formula Student Africa racing programme actually entail? Well, the six universities will have to design, build, test and race an electric Formula style car, as well as design the batteries themselves. And, there are business elements, as well (Business Management and Marketing). For more information visit www.formulastudent.africa.