work involved in developing these cars is very intense but extremely enjoyable, says Rohrer. These “highly complex, technical projects” allow students to put theory into practice. The world record attempt was also about transferring power as well as knowledge. Power from the wheel hub motors to the ground, to be precise. This was the main challenge. Do nothing and the wheels would just spin, generating a lot of smoke and not much speed. The key to breaking the record was to be as light as possible and have as much traction as possible. The students developed a completely new system to increase traction, says Rohrer. They installed a suction device under the car, positioned very closely to the ground. “You can compare the system to a vacuum cleaner sucking a carpet.” The device only uses a fraction of the engine power but produces around 180 kg of downforce in addition to the weight of the vehicle and driver. This more or less doubles the friction of the tyres. Crucially, the device ensures strong traction right from the start – which is essential if you want the fastest possible 0-100 km/h acceleration. The rear and front wings that are fitted on a Formula One car would not work, because they only create downforce when the car has reached a certain speed. The students installed traction control to get even more performance out of their car. This prevents wheel spin by adjusting power delivery instantly. Says Rohrer: “This allowed us to go right up to the limit.” The tyres are also warmed up before the start, so that they grip even better. Thanks to this clever engineering, the students managed to beat the previous acceleration record by a considerable margin. “Hopefully, we won’t have to relinquish the record any time soon,” says Rohrer. Going from zero to a hundred in 0.956 seconds is impressive. Formula One cars, electric racing cars, and powerful sports cars need well over two seconds. But there is a vehicle that accelerates even quicker: the dragster. With its 10,000 hp engine and huge back wheels, it will hit 100 km/h in 0.6 seconds. To get an idea of how extreme that is, imagine “Mythen” ABOVE: Putting on warm tyres. The suction device is visible close to the ground. BELOW: Teamwork was key to breaking the world record. Photos: ETH Zurich, Alessandro Della Bella did not have to brake but could simply carry on accelerating – let’s say for as long as it takes to read this article. After 150 seconds, driver Kate Maggetti would already be moving at a speed of almost 16,000 km/h and – if she started in Geneva – would have just left Switzerland at its north-eastern corner near St Margrethen by Lake Constance. The Swiss-developed electric vehicle accelerates twice as quickly as a Formula One car. Swiss Review / December 2023 / No.6 19
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