Team Bath Racing Electric (TBRe), which is made up of undergraduate student engineers from the University of Bath’s Faculty of Engineering & Design, competes annually at the Formula Student competition. This is Europe's most established educational motorsport competition, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).

TBRe18 has just returned from competing at Formula Student UK having ranked in the top 20 for the first time and retained their title as top UK electric team for a consecutive year.

Finishing 17th out of the 129 combustion and electric teams from over 30 countries who competed at Silverstone, is a significant improvement having ranked 39th in the same competition last year.

In the Class 1 event, TBRe18 were the first electric team to pass scrutineering and performed strongly in every event including completing the 22 lap endurance event in what was very high temperatures. The Bath-based engineering students became one of the first UK electric teams to have completed all of the dynamic events as well as coming 3rd in the business presentation event and coming 2nd in the efficiency event.

The team was also awarded £5,000 from Santander as the “Most Improved EV Team”.

In the Class 2 event, TBRe18 were named overall winners as well as winning the cost presentation element.

TBRe18 Team Manager, Elizabeth Maclennan, said:

We are absolutely thrilled to have achieved so much this year. Back in 2017 we said we were going to build a reliable car that could compete in all the events and place in the top 20. To have achieved our objectives is amazing: a huge step up for the team both technically and in terms of our credibility. I’m incredibly proud of the whole team who worked together so well through the testing times to reach this point. The success of the Class 2 entry only gives me more confidence that Team Bath Racing Electric are on their way to the podium!

TBRe18 Academic Advisor, Professor Peter Wilson, said:

An outstanding team effort, with a massive step forward in performance and reliability. The future is bright for electric vehicle engineering in the UK with these great young engineers.

Dean of the Faculty of Engineering & Design, Professor Gary Hawley, commented:

Another tremendous success by a team of students who have gained much respect and admiration for their professionalism and their engineering capabilities. Driven and motivated to compete and to be winners they race against the world’s best in China this autumn thanks to the sponsorship of Shanghai Automotive Industrial Cooperation (SAIC) Motor UK Technical Centre.

The team will now continue to fine tune improvements to their car before competing at Formula Student Electric China in Zhuhai this autumn, the first UK team to compete at this event and also the first time TBRe will compete at an international Formula Student competition.

To keep up to date with the progress of TBRe18, visit: