Dartmouth Formula Racing is an interdisciplinary team of students working together to achieve a common goal – to build a race car. The team prides itself on pushing the boundaries of performance and maximizing the efficiency of vehicle design to the constraints of the competition.

DFR was founded in 1996 in the same shop the team works in today, but their development of formula student racecars has come a long way from their first internal combustion car – “Grandma”.

After competing for a number of years in Formula SAE’s internal combustion category (the only category at the time), DFR started a new line of research and development for the 2004 season. With the success of the 2003 entry “Myra” placing 18th out of 123 teams in Michigan that year, team members focused on a new innovative strategy to beat the competition: a hybrid powertrain.

Engineering a hybrid-electric powertrain was well underway in 2003 for the upcoming season, when Formula SAE responded to the threat of electrical power with a rules change banning hybrid powertrains from entry. In response, Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College worked to organize their own event, promoting hybrid powertrain development. This competition became Formula Hybrid+Electric, a growing testing ground for both hybrid and fully-electric formula student cars.

In 2012, Formula Hybrid+Electric introduced an all-electric category, allowing teams to enter a fully-electric powertrain. Formula SAE followed suit in 2013. While DFR concentrated on its ICE and hybrid development, more opportunities arose for electric competition.

In 2018 and 2019 our team found great success in the hybrid category, but the growing full-electric division encouraged us to focus on the electric side of the powertrain and go for a full-electric design in the 2020 season. Unfortunately, midway through the design process, COVID slowed the team’s engineering to a halt.

2023 was a year of team-building and planning, with many new members joining the team and gaining experience. DFR transformed the prototype of 2020 to a functional vehicle, “Cherri”, which pushes the limits of an independent, dual-motor RWD design to the absolute maximum.

Now, with a slightly cleaner lab space, DFR is pushing into new development with a similar drivetrain setup. Our 2025-2026 challenger “Talia” is aimed at reducing weight, improving handling, and much more, entering both the Formula Hybrid+Electric and Formula SAE competitions in May and June of 2026.