Formula Zero: Racing for the future
December 2004 - Februari 2005
Getting tired of being worried about the environment all the time? Well, here's some good news: A sustainable world can be fun to live in. FormulaZero is a very ambitious company who wants to give people a positive view on the future. In short: FUN + ECO = FUTURE. Idealistic? Yes, but also realistic. They're working hard to make it reality in the form of zero emission races. I got the chance to do an internship at FormulaZero and worked as a designer and prototype builder.
Before trimming and polishing the hinges the attachment points were glued to the fiberglass body panels.
The first time that the kart actually raced was filmed for the commercial television channel NET5. Although this was still an electrical prototype, the acceleration was pretty impressive.
Niels is spraying a gelcoat into the mould. The gelcoat can be polished, after the laminating is finished, to get a smooth surface.
Because of very limited time till the AutoRAI car exhibition we decided to use to use hand layup to laminate the seat. The photo shows the result after all layers of fabric where applied. The top layer is peelply.
The final shape of the neoprene upholstery was determined with the help of paper patterns.
Side view of the FormulaZero kart.
Top view of the seat.
At the car exhibition AutoRAI 2005 in Amsterdam. 460.000 visitors could see the future of racing at the FormulaZero stand.
FormulaZero kart.
FormulaZero kart.