The UW Formula Motorsports has one mission: to build the fastest car in North America. The good news is that they’re getting closer.
In June we let you know that a team of young engineers from the University of Washington was taking their race car, dubbed T37, to compete in Michigan. It was more than a race: it was days of trials covering every aspect of an EV race car: design, performance, endurance, and even savviness in the business of EV production.
UWashington Formula Motorsports, which has been testing its race car at Pacific Raceways, did a fine job amidst heated competition from 119 other teams at the Formula SAE Electric 2026 event.
Award: Vehicle Dynamics
The team brought back the Vehicle Dynamics Award, which rewarded their ability to establish performance targets, develop designs to achieve those targets, and analyze the results to optimize performance. It sounds dry, but that kind of organization is vital to producing the EV of the future.
Pushing design boundaries
The UW team won 2nd place in the Design category among the 120 teams competing. They also earned distinction in another area —driverless performance—by taking second place in driverless autocross and third place in overall DV design.
This was the United States’s first-ever Formula Student driverless competition category at the event, and UW Formula Motorsports’s first attempt at creating a driverless vehicle. The success has made the team determined to build many more driverless vehicles in the years to come.
Win some, lose some
The UW team, despite massive competition from 119 other very sharp and focused teams, won second place in the skidpad event, which tests cornering ability and lateral grip. They ranked sixth in the acceleration event, 10th in the cost event, in which manufacturing processes are evaluated to see how the vehicle would fare as a real-world product. They also came eleventh in Autocross, and were in the top 25 in the business event, which judges how well the team handles marketing and financial planning with a view to mass production.
The one disappointment was Endurance. An electrical fault caused the T37 to halt on the track. That’s the way it goes sometimes.
Fine finish
The UW Formula Motorsports team finished 14th overall, proving that they could push beyond the team’s previous accomplishments. The next test of those limits will be in Germany in mid-August. Says Taylor Lai, the team’s Drive Coordinator, “We will take the things learned from Michigan and bring them to Germany with us, where we will be competing amongst the best of the best.”
Taylor also mentioned the many friends, family, and generous sponsors who have supported the team through their journey.
Onward to Europe
We’ll be checking in on the Formula Student Germany event, and will be keeping tabs on this group of gifted student engineers, whose drive and brilliance are energizing the next generation of electric cars.