Between lectures and during break times, a handful of university students make their way to a small garage located on the Msida campus, where they work on a first-of-its-kind project for Malta - a fully electric race car.

While the race car is still in the initial building stages, the University of Malta’s racing team plans to have all works completed by April 2024 and to compete in Italy or the UK in July.

UM Racing is Malta’s only Formula student team that designs, funds and builds Formula-style race cars. The cars are then raced against vehicles built by other universities from around the world.

Set up in 2012, UM Racing has competed in seven international competitions with four different race cars. Last year, in Silverstone, UK, the team successfully placed third overall out of 110 teams.

Accountancy student Shaun Abela is leading the team working on the electric race car.

While the previous four cars were built with internal combustion engines, the team is moving ahead with the times and going electric.

“With the way the automobile industry is moving forward, the competition is now moving towards electric, and we don’t want to fall behind,” Shaun Abela, president of UM Racing said.

What does it take to build an electric racing car?

Following their experience in Silverstone, and back on Maltese soil, the team of 25 students immediately set to work in researching and designing the electric car.

“We spent a year researching and designing the car, and in the last few months we began the building process, welding the frame of the car and now building the slot for the battery pack,” he said.

The team is split into two – those who design and build the car, and the ones who deal with marketing and sponsorships.

“It’s a new challenge for us, searching for the best solutions and parts and finding the right suppliers. We want to make sure we have the best parts so that the car is safe and fast. For example, we need to make sure the batteries operate at the right temperature and that the wiring system is correct.”

Another obstacle the team faces is balancing out their time to work on the race car and their studies.

The race car is still in the building process.

Yet, the largest challenge for the young team is the financial aspect.

It cost the team around €80,000 to build the race car they used in the Silverstone competition.

We need different people with different skills

The first electric race car could set the team back €100,000, with the main cost being the batteries.

“Everything has its own cost, and we have also faced extra importation fees due to Brexit to get the best stuff. All these challenges must be overcome on the day of the race, as the judges will be checking to make sure the car is safe and the batteries can last the endurance test,” Abela said.

While most would assume that all 25 members of the core team building the car are engineering students, some are studying different subjects, such as accountancy, marketing and even sciences.

The team provides short courses to all members on mechanical and electric engineering topics, business practices, and the basics of race engineering.

The race car is still in the building process.

Abela, in his final year reading for a Masters in Accountancy, believes that having students from different faculties and backgrounds benefits the team.

“UM Racing works like a small business. We manage our finances, we attract sponsorships and market the team and, of course, build the car. We need different people with different skills to ensure the team is as strong as possible.”

It’s the high-speed thrills and passion for motor racing that unites the team to come together and build the car.

“I’ve always had a passion for cars, and I have fond memories of watching Formula One with my father and spending time around cars,” he said.

He first found out about UM Racing back in 2016, and the moment he started studying at university, he signed up.

The university students design, plan and build the electric race car together.

And just as motorsports popularity boomed in recent years, boosted with the Netflix documentary Formula 1: Drive to Survive and the rise of Dutch driver Max Verstappen, the UM Racing team has also experienced a drive in popularity.

“When we placed third in Silverstone, we got a lot of media attention, and students began to reach out to us much more about the work we do,” he said. More than 40 freshers joined the organisation.

Apart from building the car, the team will also build a stimulator for drivers to practise before the competition.

UM Racing students on campus with an older car.

“We will also have a drivers’ challenge to pick the best students to drive the car,” he said.

When competing abroad, Abela and his teammates realise they are ultimately operating with limited resources compared to foreign universities.

“They have bigger facilities, better tools and more funding,” he said.

“And they do not have to strain themselves as much – they have lifters for their cars. We do the lifting ourselves. Yet, despite our challenges and limitations, we managed to place third, and that makes us very proud.”

GO is supporting the team.