FOX 8's Brad Jones visited a prototype lab in Elon's Founders Hall to learn about the work of Phoenix Racing, a student-led initiative to build an electric Formula 1 car.
In a recent segment of the “Made in N.C.” series, WGHP FOX 8’s Brad Jones focused on homegrown technological talent by highlighting Phoenix Racing, a student-led engineering program initiative at Elon focused on designing and building an electric race car to compete in Formula SAE Electric competitions.
The Phoenix Racing team of student engineers is tapping into the talent and tools available within Founders Hall to design and build the car, which has included machining components, welding the chassis, designing the driver’s interface and the circuitry to power the Formula 1 electric car.
“We’re starting from scratch – not just converting,” Nicholas Muller ’24, a member of the Phoenix Racing team, told Jones. “We’re actually learning everything from the beginning of building an electric car and everything that means. We’re learning from engineers out in California, engineers in Charlotte.”
Henry Echt ’23 with Phoenix Racing told Jones that the size of the team has more than doubled to 18 this semester. “That means we’ve done something to gain attention around campus,” Echt said. “That means we’ve done something to grow as a team and to get more people curious and excited and learn and push themselves outside of the classroom.”
Jones noted that as companies locate in North Carolina to build electric vehicles with next-generation technology, they will be looking for “the engineering minds of tomorrow” to help lead those efforts.
“You can bet the members of Phoenix Racing will be ready to meet the challenge,” Jones said.
Learn more about Phoenix Racing in this Today at Elon article.