Who we are
Born from the mountains…
VIM Racing is a student motorsports club at Montana State University. Our dedicated team is committed to improving the educational experience at MSU and growing the field of automotive engineering as a whole.
Our club is driving toward the goal of taking a Formula SAE racecar to competition in 2025, followed by a Formula SAE Electric car in 2026. This will be the first time Montana State University has been represented at a Formula SAE competition in nearly a decade. We’re back baby - and this time, we’re going electric. The challenges of vehicle electrification are incredibly relevant in the rapidly changing world of transportation we live in today. The purpose of this organization is to give students real-world experience in engineering and management, and what better way to do that is there than building an electric racecar?
Our Plan
2024-2025: Making it happen
Our goal: pass technical inspection at competition. This critical step knocks ~60% of competitors out of the competition before it’s even begun. Scope management is critical here; we are developing a baseline ICE car to transition to an electric drivetrain in the following competition cycle.
2025-2026: Electrification
Our goal: pass technical inspection at competition with a fully electric drivetrain. This is a big step up in complexity; electrical engineering abounds. The accumulator (battery), battery management, and control systems will need to be built from the ground up. This is where the fun begins.
Our goal: beat out the competition. Innovation will come forward as we find ways to get ever more competive at home and at competition. Transitioning to a hybrid drivetrain will give us more flexibility, more room for innovation, and a far more diverse engineering experience for our team.