Read the full story, published by Thayer School of Engineering

Hundreds of the world’s top engineering students are participating in Dartmouth’s one-of-a-kind Formula Hybrid competition, which began April 29, putting to the test the earth-friendly hybrid and electric vehicles they designed and built over the last 10 months.

This year’s 20 teams hail from Canada, India and across the U.S. Their vehicles will need to pass numerous technical and safety inspections in order to make it on the New Hampshire Motor Speedway track where the event will be held through May 2.

Similar to the Formula SAE competition, students compete in aspects of design, acceleration, handling, and endurance of their vehicle while abiding by rules that minimize risk and preserve students’ freedom to innovate. At Formula Hybrid, they also have to optimize energy efficiency and incorporate sustainable materials when building their vehicles.

“We are the only hybrid competition of its kind,” said Douglas Fraser, founder of Formula Hybrid and senior research engineer and laboratory instructor at Thayer School of Engineering, which runs the event. “There are competitions that look a lot like ours, but those vehicles are gasoline powered or powered entirely by electric. We are the only competition that combines the two, with gasoline engine on one side and electric power on the other. Blending the output can be done any number of ways. Students have to work together and decide which system gets to do what. It’s pretty tricky.”