Founded in 1978 by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Formula SAE now hosts competitions globally, with hundreds of teams participating worldwide. Penn Electric Racing competes in the FSAE Electric Category in North America, in which just under 100 teams from several continents participate in each year.

"The concept behind Formula SAE is that a fictional manufacturing company has contracted a design team to develop a small Formula-style race car. The prototype race car is to be evaluated for its potential as a production item. Each student team designs, builds and tests a prototype based on a series of rules whose purpose is both to ensure onsite event operations and promote clever problem solving."  -SAE International

ACCELERATION

Measures car's acceleration over a 75m straight track.

AUTOCROSS

Measures car's maneuverability and handling over a tight course with a series of straights and turns.

ENDURANCE

Measures car's durability and reliability over a 22km race with 22 laps around a track.

SKID-PAD

Measures car's cornering ability over a constant-radius turn over a figure-8 track.

EFFICIENCY

Measures car's energy efficiency by monitoring energy use during the Endurance event.

DESIGN

Evaluate the team's adherence to good design practices during the conception, iteration, integration, and validation of every subsystem on the vehicle.

SALES PRESENTATION

Assesses the team's ability to compile a business case arguing that their car best serves the needs of the amateur racing market.

COST REPORT

Assesses the team's ability to factor cost of production into the design of the car and solve production issues on the fly.