Who we are

The Lafayette Motorsports Team is a division of the Lafayette College Electric Vehicle Club at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Our members are divided into 3 subteams – mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical – with each subteam designing and developing different components of the car. The team is composed of undergraduate students, mostly but not entirely majoring in a discipline of engineering. Our main focus is developing a fully electric formula car to compete in Formula Hybrid + Electric (FH+E), which is often considered the most technically challenging undergraduate student competition sponsored by SAE. Our car, the LM0, has been in development for three years, and the 2025 FH+E competition was the first time Lafayette Motorsports was able to pass all of the rigorous technical inspections, allowing us to compete in all dynamic events. This year, we will be working to make LM0 even faster and more efficient for the 2026 competition, while also working on the design for the next generation racecar, LM1.

Joining the Team

There is no requirement of pre-existing knowledge to join the team, or any requirement of major. All the formal and informal training needed to join is provided by us, so being part of the team is a great educational opportunity. We accept members into our subteams from the EV Club, so to join the Motorsports Team you will first join the EV Club, and then you can be brought onto a subteam of the Motorsports Team. The best time to join is at the beginning of the fall semester, since students joining the EV Club then will be enrolled in the EV Club Orientation Program. This program is a streamlined training that gives you the skills needed to contribute to the Motorsports Team or any division of the EV Club. If you join in the middle of the year we will still be able to help you learn the ropes, but it will be a less encompassing, informal process. No matter when you join, you are expected to attend Lafayette EV Club General Body Meetings, which are every Monday at 5:00PM in Hugel 100 starting September 15th (exceptions to this expectation can be arranged on an individual basis – email whitejoh@lafayette.edu). The first 2 meetings (9/1 & 9/8) are for returning members only. You should also follow our Instagram to keep up on important announcements

Joining at the beginning of the year (recommended)

Joining at the beginning of the fall semester is optimal, as there are a number of opportunities to get to know us. The first opportunity is the Student Involvement Fair (September 3rd 4-6PM on the Quad), which the Motorsports Team will be at as part of the EV Club. We will also be at the two EV Club New Member Info Sessions, which are on September 8th and September 10th from 4:10-4:50PM in Hugel 100. If you miss all three of those opportunities, you can meet us at the EV Club General Body Meeting, which will be September 15th from 5:00-6:00PM. Students who attend any of these events will be added to the list of potential members. So, if you cannot make any of those events, then you need to send our Coordinator (John White, whitejoh@lafayette.edu) an email stating that you want to join the Motorsports Team. If you have general questions, you may send those as well. All students on the list of potential members will be enrolled in the EV Club Orientation Program. Once you are done with the orientation program, you may then join the Motorsports Team or any other division of the EV Club. Students in the orientation program will work in teams on a competitive project that is smaller than the formula car and other EV Club projects, but will teach the same skills as those larger projects. This year, that project is to transform a Razor kick scooter into an electric scooter. Here is what that orientation does for you (and for us):

• You will gain skills and hands on experience that will be useful on the Motorsports Team.
• You will receive tool training and safety training early on, which is important for future work on the team.
• You will get to know people in your orientation team as well as existing members of the EV Club and Motorsports Team.
• You will gain a good understanding of what the workload of the Motorsports Team looks like in your schedule, usually about 3 hours a week.
• You will experience the different types of work each Motorsports subteam does (Electromechanical, Mechanical, Electrical) which will help you identify your area of interest.

Joining in the middle year

Students who miss the opportunity to join in the beginning of the year can still be a part of the club. The first step is to email our Coordinator (John White, whitejoh@lafayette.edu) to express your interest and ask for next steps on getting involved.

How does the team work?

As a member of the Motorsports Team, you will typically attend three team meetings per week. The first is the EV Club General Body Meeting, where each subteam is assigned a new work package by the subteam lead. A work package is a list of tasks related to the car that will be completed during that week, and during the GBM each subteam decides as a group which subteam member will be working on which task. Each subteam has two meetings during the week, where they will work on these tasks. On busier weeks, progress will be made outside of those meetings by committed members. The subteam meetings are either in our workshop on the first floor of the Acopian Engineering Center (AEC 134, 134C) or in our electrical room on the basement floor (002). Members who need to miss a meeting must communicate this in advance to their team lead, so that arrangements can be made for their absence. Some tasks can be done by one person at any time during the week, so it is possible to have a member who misses all subteam meetings and still contributes, even if it requires a lot of coordination. However, you will only get from the team what you put into it – we can only give the highest priority tasks to the people who show up the most and work the hardest.