Last week’s Autosport International Show in the UK saw the launch of a new competition to design a car for the world’s first one-make electric vehicle race series. The competition is being run by motorsports company Westfield Sportscars in collaboration with Birmingham City University’s Technology Innovation Centre (TIC), and is aimed at design students interested in the automotive field.

Students will use a prototype rolling chassis (pictured), which has been developed by Westfield, and the winning design will eventually be used to create a real car for the new electric car race. The vehicles are predicted to have a 0-60mph time of less than five seconds, use lithium ion batteries and weigh in at less than 600kg. The electric motor they will use produces the equivalent of 100hp and with over 400Nm of torque.

Westfield already manufactures the AeroRace, a lightweight racer that tips the scales at just 520kg and has a 0-60mph time of five seconds.