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Over 75 students from different engineering streams of IIT Bombay have developed a racing car named ORCA, which is now going to compete against similar cars at the Formula Student UK competition. Over 100 student teams from around the world will participate in the competition.

It took the students of IIT Bombay nine months to design the car and they launched it with NRB Bearings, Tata Motors, CEAT Tyres and other sponsors on Sunday.

The car has a speed of more than 145 kmph.

“With an acceleration of 0-100 kmph in 3.47 seconds, ORCA is faster than any other sports car made by Porsche, Tesla or Audi. Not only is its acceleration a record, it is the first time we have a special steel-frame chassis with carbon-fibre manufactured body, which not only reduces the weight but also stabilises the car at high speeds,” Rishabh Kappasia, a 4th-year student of Engineering Physics and leader of Team ORCA, told The Times of India.

The team claims that it is the fastest Indian electric car. It has more 20,000 components, and the team reduced the weight of the chassis from 55 kg to 29 kg.

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A low-voltage safety system has also been developed for the safety of drivers. The car uses a battery pack of 95 cells, which delivers continuous power of 80 kilowatt.

Formula Student UK competition is an annual car competition. Teams from IIT Bombay have participated in the event over the last five years, and have received the award for design improvement in three consecutive years.

Project ORCA was not a part of the students’ curriculum and was made by the racing team after many brainstorming sessions. The model was tested for two months.

According to Shardul Jade, a final year electrical engineering student who is part of the project, the team takes new students by briefing them about racing, testing their basic understanding and finally interviewing them.

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