Forze IV.

Entering a new era.

After the introduction of the Forze VI in the Summer of 2013, the team reached many highlights and achieved many successes. The Forze VI is six times more powerful and efficient than its predecessors and is specially designed to compete against gasoline powered cars. It is one of the first sports car worldwide which contains a fuel cell system. With this, the tone was set and realistic goals for the upcoming years were planned.

The Forze VI is equipped with a lightweight body and diffuser for improved aerodynamics and thus she was well equipped to obtain a lap record at the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany.

Overview.

The Forze VI is designed and built based on a Lotus 7 type frame which was a big challenge for the Chief Engineer. It was difficult to package a hydrogen fuel cell into a frame which was originally designed for a combustion engine. A stack of Ballard fuel cells provides power while many components around the fuel cell are custom made and prototypes.

The air system to provide oxygen to produce additional power pumps 5000 liters of air through the system. This is due to several components inside the car which need to be cooled, such as the motors, DC/DC converters and the energy buffer. The total amount of hydrogen in the tanks is 3 kg.

Achievements.

Formula Student at Silverstone.

After 2,5 years of hard work, the Forze VI obtained a lap record on the Nürburgring Nordschleife on May 7, 2015 of 10:43:56 minutes, turning the Forze VI into the fastest race car in the world that runs on hydrogen.

After the obtained lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife it was time for the participation at the well-attended Gamma Racing Day. The Forze VI got the chance to demonstrate herself together with famous Formula One drivers such as Max Verstappen, Tim and Tom Coronel and Alex Márquez. With 87,500 spectators and a successful run it was a great event.

The Forze VI has also beaten the electric lap record on Zandvoort on November 16 in a time of 2.05.45 minutes, which is 5.5 seconds faster than the previous lap record by a Tesla Roadster.