What Elbflorace does

Elbflorace (legal name: ELBFLORACE Formula Student Team TU Dresden e.V.) is a student-led engineering association founded in 2006 at the Technical University of Dresden and registered as a non-profit association (e.V.) under number 4722 at Amtsgericht Dresden. The organization designs, manufactures, and races electric and autonomous Formula Student vehicles, competing in both electric (EV) and driverless (DV) disciplines at events across Europe, including Formula Student Germany (Hockenheimring), Austria (Red Bull Ring), Netherlands (TT Circuit Assen), Czech Republic (Autodrome Most), and Alpe Adria. Its current vehicle, "ElliE," unveiled at the Rollout 2026 event, is a fully self-developed car featuring four in-wheel 35 kW hub motors with planetary gearboxes, a 272-cell lithium-polymer high-voltage accumulator managed by a proprietary Battery Management System, a custom Vehicle Control Unit with in-house PCB and firmware, a carbon fiber monocoque chassis with integrated safety structures, and an aerodynamics package of front and rear wings plus underbody. The autonomous driving stack integrates LiDAR and camera sensor fusion, SLAM-based localization, Model Predictive Controllers, and an emerging neural-network end-to-end control research line presented at the Autonomous Racing Workshop 2026.

The team operates through a matrix of module leaders covering Workshop & External Manufacturing, Aerodynamics & Chassis, Electronics & Autonomous System, Suspension & Powertrain, and Management & Media, with 51–100 student members drawn primarily from TU Dresden. It does not generate commercial revenue; funding comes from corporate sponsorship (ZEISS since 2019, Henkel/LOCTITE, The Lee Company, Ostsächsische Sparkasse, DD Volksbank), individual donations via PayPal, and a StartNext crowdfunding "Zellpatenschaft" campaign for battery cells. Competition performance in 2024 was strong, with first places in Acceleration, Skid Pad, and Autocross categories at Formula Student Germany and a second place overall at Formula Student Alpe Adria. The team does not pursue traditional equity ownership, M&A, or external investment, and its primary outputs are talent development, technical publications, and competition results rather than commercial products.

Name

Elbflorace

Legal name

ELBFLORACE Formula Student Team TU Dresden e.V.

Website

https://elbflorace.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Elbflorace is a student-led non-profit engineering association at TU Dresden that designs, builds, and races fully self-developed electric and autonomous Formula Student cars in European competitions, funded by corporate sponsorships, donations, and crowdfunding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Formula Student Electric Race Car Engineering

NAICS

Sports Teams and Clubs (711211)

SIC

Services-Racing, Including Track Operation (7948)

akta.pro primary industry

Motorsports Teams & Entrants (Factory & Independent) (MPAKAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Automotive (EDABALAB)

Keywords

• Formula Student racing
• Electric race cars
• Autonomous vehicles
• Student engineering team
• Carbon fiber chassis

Headquarters

HQ city

Dresden

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Elbflorace is a registered student association at TU Dresden that annually designs, manufactures, and races electric and autonomous Formula Student race cars. Each season the team fully develops the vehicle in-house, including carbon fiber monocoque chassis, in-wheel hub motor drivetrain, high-voltage battery pack with proprietary BMS, custom Vehicle Control Unit, and a complete autonomous driving stack with LiDAR and camera sensor fusion. The team competes in both electric (EV) and driverless (DV) disciplines at international Formula Student events across Europe.

Product overview

Elbflorace is a Formula Student racing team at TU Dresden that develops electric and autonomous race cars annually for competition in European Formula Student events. The core offering is the electric race car, a fully self-developed vehicle incorporating multiple integrated subsystems: the carbon monocoque chassis as the structural foundation, an electric hub motor drive system enabling 4-wheel drive with torque vectoring, a high-voltage lithium-polymer battery pack with proprietary battery management system, a custom Vehicle Control Unit (VCU) for overall vehicle management, a complete autonomous driving system using LiDAR and camera sensors for driverless competition, and an aerodynamics package with front/rear wings and underbody for maximum downforce. The team participates in Formula Student competitions across Europe including Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Netherlands. The 2026 season vehicle (named ElliE) features both electric propulsion and full autonomous capabilities, unveiled at the annual Rollout event.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Electric Autonomous Formula Student Race Car (ElliE) Annually developed, fully self-designed electric and autonomous Formula Student race car that competes in both electric (EV) and driverless (DV) disciplines at international Formula Student competitions across Europe.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ZEISS GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019ZEISS has been continuously supporting Elbflorace since 2019 with technical expertise, manufacturing of selected vehicle components, and organization of valuable workshops on additive manufacturing and 3D printing. These workshops have improved manufacturing processes and component efficiency.
• LOCTITE/HenkelminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLOCTITE (Henkel) supports the team, likely with adhesives and sealants for vehicle manufacturing.
• The Lee CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Lee Company supports the Emergency Brake System development, providing components for safety-critical systems.
• TU Dresden (Technische Universität Dresden)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe team is an official campus group of TU Dresden, registered as 'ELBFLORACE Formula Student Team TU Dresden e.V.' The university provides facilities, resources, and institutional support. The team works with various institutes and chairs for studies and diploma theses.
• Formula Student NetherlandsminorOthersInternational engineering competition held July 12-17, 2025 at TT Circuit in Assen, Netherlands.
• Formula Student AustriaminorOthersInternational engineering competition held July 20-24, 2025 at Red Bull Ring, Austria.
• Formula Student CzechminorOthersInternational engineering competition held August 4-9, 2025 at Autodrome Most, Czech Republic.
• Formula Student GermanyminorOthersInternational engineering competition held August 18-24, 2025 at Hockenheimring, Germany - the largest Formula Student event.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• FAUtonoms: FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg's driverless-focused Formula Student team. Direct peer in the autonomous racing sub-discipline, using similar LiDAR + camera sensor fusion and competing at the same European events.
• AMZ Racing Team: ETH Zürich's Formula Student team and one of Europe's most decorated entrants. Directly comparable as a Swiss university team competing in EV and Driverless disciplines at Formula Student Germany and other European events, with similarly deep in-house engineering.
• Global Formula Racing: Joint team between Oregon State University and DHBW Ravensburg. Directly comparable as a dual-discipline EV/combustion Formula Student team operating between the US and Germany with similar headcount scale.
• Schanzer Racing e.V. TH Ingolstadt's Formula Student team. Audi-affiliated region peer competing in EV and Driverless disciplines at European Formula Student events with a comparable automotive-industry sponsor ecosystem.
• e-gnition Hamburg: Hamburg University of Technology's Formula Student team. Direct peer competing in EV and Driverless at Formula Student Germany with comparable student-team structure and self-developed vehicle subsystems.
• KA-RaceIng: KIT Karlsruhe's Formula Student team. Directly comparable as a German university team active in EV and Driverless with a similarly broad in-house development scope and participation in European competition circuits.
• TUfast Racing Team: TU München's Formula Student team. Competes in both EV and Driverless at Formula Student Germany with comparable headcount and a similar sponsor-driven, student-run operating model anchored to a top German technical university.
• Running Snail Racing Team: TU Berlin's Formula Student team. Direct German university peer in Formula Student EV/Driverless competition with similar in-house development philosophy and corporate sponsorship model.

Broad incumbents

• Roborace: Autonomous electric racing series using identical spec cars. Tangentially comparable as a commercial autonomous racing venue whose software-stack challenges overlap with Elbflorace's autonomy development work, though at a different scale and professional-team level.
• Indy Autonomous Challenge: Multi-university autonomous racing series using Dallara IL-15 chassis. Comparable as a higher-tier autonomous racing platform that several Formula Student alumni teams aspire to enter; represents an aspirational peer for Elbflorace's autonomy stack.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/elbflorace
• Xx.com/elbflorace

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Elbflorace