"This is the third electric motorcycle for CTU Lions. The engine is the same for all teams, supplied by the organizer, it is water-cooled for the first time and a bit more powerful than last year's one, but everything else from the frame construction to the battery is unique for each team," says the team leader Josef Svoboda.
The team have chosen a new Li-pol battery cell chemistry for the new EVO 3.0, primarily because of the favourable volume-to-weight ratio in relation to the permitted discharge current. Another advantage is the flat shape of the cells, compared to cylindrical cells, which can be more easily arranged in a single rectangular battery box. In fact, the previous EVO 2.0 model designed for the 2020/2021 racing season has a rather complex design consisting of three units. The frame of the new machine is designed on a similar principle to the previous model, i.e. aluminium forgings, welded and heat-treated, but in a completely new shape adapted to the new model.
In addition to the team members, the christening ceremony was attended by the Dean of Faculty of Transportation Sciences, prof. Ondřej Přibyl and the Vice Dean for Science and Research Prof. Ondřej Jiroušek. "The enormous commitment of each and every member of the team, and especially their determination to learn new things and to solve a number of very sophisticated problems during development and design, is truly breathtaking and I am very happy that we have such students at the faculty" Ondřej Přibyl, Dean of the Faculty, expressed his admiration.
Who are the CTU Lions?
The student racing team consists mainly of students from Faculty of Transportationation Sciences of CTU, as well as Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering. As part of their studies, students develop and build racing motorcycles for the international MotoStudent competition. Currently its only electric, but in the past they have also built several combustion ones.
The team was founded in 2015 and in October 2016, in Aragon, Spain, the first race was held with the first model of the petrol bike. In the following 2017/2018 season, they were one of the few to compete in both ELECTRIC and PETROL categories. With the electric motorcycle, they placed 9th out of 27 electric motorcycles in the 2017/2018 season. In the following 2020/2021 season, they placed 12th out of 45 teams with their new CTU Lions EVO 2.0 Electric motorcycle. The student racing team of Faculty of Transportation Sciences of the CTU in Prague CTU Lions is thus very successfully representing the Czech Republic at the international level.
About the MotoStudent competition
The MotoStudent competition is built on purely student teams from around the world, involving 80 universities from four continents. It consists of two categories, Petrol and Electric, and is run in a two-year format - racing seasons. The competition includes not only a final race, but ongoing evaluation of sub-technical reports on design, development, construction and testing. A special report is dedicated to the development of an innovation. Then, in the past, a business plan for a small to medium sized company that could mass produce the motorcycle in question, and now a management plan dedicated to the strategic direction and financial situation of the team.
The competition culminates in a several-day event at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain, where a static test is conducted to verify the safety of the structure, followed by a dynamic test, during which professional riders test the behaviour of the motorcycle. The dynamic tests also include braking, acceleration, agility and top speed tests. The last discipline is the main circuit race, which is divided into qualifying and the main race, following the Grand Prix model. The team's final position in the competition will be determined by their success in all disciplines, i.e. the quality of the technical reports submitted, the technical characteristics of the motorcycle and, of course, their position in the race.
"So let's hope that the CTU Lions team will succeed in the intense competition this year, and let's wish for more such projects and activities that would attract students to study technical fields. Because having enough technically educated university students should be a priority for every advanced society that aims to improve the quality of life for all of us, but especially technology is a beautiful field and everyone can find their place in it," adds Petra Skolilová, the faculty's spokesperson.
More about the CTU Lions racing team: http://www.ctulions.cz/index.html
More about the MotoStudent competition https://www.motostudent.com
