The new driveshaft torque sensor from Melectric Systems is said to bridge the requirements of laboratory-grade instrumentation and the realities of vehicle testing. Built to handle the growing complexity of today’s driveline architectures, the ME-DST does so by bringing together the accuracy of high-bandwidth lab measurements with the durability needed in real-world vehicle testing.

At the core of the system is a modular rotor unit that mounts directly onto the driveshaft. Depending on the application requirements, the sensor can transmit measurement data either through a 2.4GHz radio telemetry link or via an inductive near-field interface. The radio variant provides a proprietary, interference-resistant wireless signal through FCC correlations with sampling rates of up to 10kHz and a transmission range of up to 10m, making it ideal for on-road applications. For long-duration or high-dynamics applications – especially on engine, e-motor or driveline test benches – the inductive version supplies continuous power across a typical rotor-stator distance of around 10mm. This enables uninterrupted data acquisition even under demanding thermal and mechanical boundary conditions.

The ME-DST’s electronics work across extended temperature ranges and are housed in sealed enclosures rated up to IP65/67. The rotor module can be customized for different shaft diameters and shapes, making it possible to fit the system into tight or unconventional spaces. Inside, the measurement electronics process strain-gauge signals with high stability, ensuring accurate torque readings even during rapid load changes or dynamic torsional oscillations.

To facilitate seamless integration into existing measurement infrastructures, the ME-DST receiver has analog and digital output interfaces. The analog output can be configured to deliver common current ranges such as 4-20mA, enabling direct connection to conventional data acquisition systems without the need for external converters. For more advanced applications, the system provides a fully configurable CAN interface in which message identifier, bitrate and transmission frequency can be adjusted to match the vehicle or test bench architecture. The torque value is transmitted as a high-resolution, processed signal, ensuring compatibility with modern control systems and data loggers.

A central component of the ME-DST’s user experience is its integrated web-based configuration interface. Once powered, the receiver creates a dedicated wi-fi network through which engineers can connect using any browser-enabled device. The interface provides a clear dashboard with live torque data, system health indicators, temperature information and, when applicable, inductive power levels. In the Live Data view, measurement curves can be monitored in real time with an auto-scrolling chart that supports pausing and data clearing for quick analysis during setup. The configuration menu facilitates rapid adjustment of output parameters, sampling rates and communication settings, while a simple tare function enables immediate zeroing of the sensor after installation. This modern UX-oriented design significantly reduces setup times and eliminates the need for proprietary software tools.

According to Melectric Systems, the ME-DST is suitable for a range of applications. In electric powertrain development, it enables precise mapping of motor torque, load cycles and efficiency under real operating conditions. In hybrid powertrains, detailed measurements during transient load changes, clutch engagements and regenerative braking events are beneficial. The system is also well suited to transmission testing, where its stable high-speed sampling can be used to analyze torsional vibrations, gear efficiency and lubrication performance. In motorsport and high-performance vehicles, the ME-DST’s low mass, compact size and robust telemetry make it ideal for real-time driveline analysis. For durability and endurance testing, the inductive version provides continuous operation without maintenance interruptions.

In related news, Cosworth unveils first GT steering wheel and Centaurus 3 Power Distribution Module at PMW Expo

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Development of Zenvo Automotive’s Aurora hypercars is progressing, with the engineering team now fully focused on refining the Agil and Tur models. Key milestones have been set, with a prototype set to debut at next year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, as the company ramps up ahead of a busy 2025. Substantial progress has been made in component design, powertrain integration and vehicle packaging, alongside detailed crash testing and aerodynamic simulations to refine the final designs.

Under the leadership of chief technical officer Jon Gunner, Zenvo Automotive has expanded its engineering team, adding key figures including Jorge Uhalte-Nogués as homologation director (formerly with Bentley and McLaren) and Javier Castane as chief engineer (previously at Aston Martin and JLR). This roles have seen the establishment of a new engineering office in neighboring Sweden, which complements activities at the main factory in Præstø, Denmark.

“The Aurora project continues to gather pace, and continue to add some fantastic talent that is required to deliver the expanded in-house development of key systems behind-the-scenes, as we drive the development forwards,” said Gunner.

“This strengthening of the team, now across two sites with the opening of our second engineering office in Sweden, is a credit to the program as well as the brand we are building, and will be a huge benefit to the final outcome as we continue to maximize the engagement of both the Agil and Tur.

“The 2025 calendar is already extremely busy, and we have a number of significant milestones scheduled in, which will be a challenge, but we are all focused on delivering the absolute best at every stage. I have absolute belief in this team that we will more than exceed expectation.”

The team is gearing up for a packed 2025, starting with the first test run of the custom-built Mjølner V12 engine, developed with Mahle Powertrain. The 6.6-liter quad-turbocharged V12, designed for maximum driver engagement, aims to set new benchmarks for power and innovation. After this milestone, the engine will move into real-world testing, leading to the dynamic debut of a prototype vehicle at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Chief designer Christian Brandt said, “The Aurora designs have continued to evolve as the program has progressed. Working closely with the engineering team, we are committed to ensuring the Aurora will deliver the ultimate experience for the driver – visually and dynamically. The initial design showed a clear design direction, and we are now honing the final look and aesthetic of both the Agil and Tur models, so performance is optimized, but nothing is diluted from the original dramatic vision we had when the covers first came off. It has been important to ensure that both models continue to encapsulate classic Danish design philosophies, using the latest technology and interpretations, but not to the detriment of performance and driver engagement.”

“It has been a busy year for Zenvo, and we have grown significantly over this past 12 months,” said Jens Sverdrup, chairman and chief commercial officer. “We have been building a strong foundation – for the wider business and for the Aurora project – and 2025 is gearing up to continue at great pace. We are as committed as ever to delivering the bold project that we initially set out to build, working with the best in terms of in-house talent, as well as a carefully curated list of technical and commercial partners who share the vision for Aurora, and beyond.”

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For development of its new hydrogen-powered race car, Forze Hydrogen Racing relies on Kistler technology

The Forze IX is the latest hydrogen-powered race car designed and developed by students from the Delft University of Technology. The zero-emissions vehicle features dual fuel cells. In the development process, multiple Kistler solutions were used to measure pressure, temperature, torque, and vehicle dynamics.

Founded back in 2007 when the hydrogen economy of the future was still a distant prospect, student team Forze Hydrogen Racing began by developing a small go-kart. Today’s Forze (Formula Zero) team is now working on the ninth generation of its hydrogen-powered vehicle: the Forze IX is a full-size Le Mans Prototype race car with excellent performance statistics – acceleration from 0 to 100km/h in under 3 seconds, a top speed of 300km/h, and fuel cell power of 240kW (600kW with boost). With their new vehicle, the Forze team competes against petrol-powered cars in the GT class of the Supercar Challenge, which runs from April to October each year – showing what is possible with race cars powered by hydrogen.

Formula Zero was a series of zero-emission motorsport championships held between 2008 and 2011, which the Dutch team won three times in a row in its early years before making the step toward full-size hydrogen race cars. It started every year with a new selection of students in August. About 30 full-timers and 30 part-timers now work for Forze, which eventually became an independent foundation, separate from the university.

Piezoresistive pressure sensors monitor fuel cell stack
Forze benefits from a diverse network of partners, including Kistler, which provides Forze with various sensors and systems for vehicle development: instrumentation to regulate the fuel cell stack is one key aspect, along with other more performance-related solutions. Development is still in progress on the new Forze IX, which will be the first in the series to have two fuel cells, thus doubling the power transmitted to four independent electric motors – one for each wheel. There are also four built-in hydrogen tanks with a total capacity of 8.4kg of the volatile gas.

In vehicle development, Forze uses a Kistler 4080BT pressure and temperature transducer – specially developed for racing applications – to measure the cooling fluid immediately upstream of the pump in the fuel cell cooling cycle. Since the temperature rise inside the pump is negligible, this transducer is also used to measure the temperature before the inlet of the radiator, which ultimately cools the cooling fluid.

“This allows us to evaluate the cooling performance,” says India van Doornen, chief engineer at Forze. “We also use 4080BT transducers in the front and rear drivetrain cooling cycle. Especially here, packaging is a major challenge – so it’s very beneficial that the Kistler sensors are extremely small compared to the alternatives. And the sensors’ ability to measure both pressure and temperature makes them efficient to operate.”

A second piezoresistive pressure sensor, the 4007D from Kistler, is used on the cathode side of the fuel cell system to measure air pressure inside the fuel cell. “This is one of the most important sensors on the cathode side, because the compressor is such a crucial element,” van Doornen says. “It’s generally very easy to set up and customize sensors and amplifiers from Kistler for our purposes. So we didn’t need any technical support until now, but our contacts with Kistler have always met with fast and supportive responses.”

Head-to-head with petrol-powered cars
“Spreading knowledge about the technology, and promoting hydrogen and fuel cells are key elements of our work.” Forze will continue to apply even more Kistler technology in its vehicle development: one example is the Correvit SF-Motion racing sensor that can measure not only speed and lateral and longitudinal accelerations but also pitch and roll angles – highly dynamically and even under challenging environmental conditions.

“Thanks to its broad functionality and high accuracy, we can use it to evaluate large numbers of other sensors that are already integrated in the car,” van Doornen explains.

Last but not least, Kistler will provide Forze with a newly developed solution: the KiTorq DS sensor, designed specifically for high-performance automotive applications including motorsports. It will be used to monitor fatigue of the driveshaft, which is subjected to heavy loads when the accumulator boost is engaged. This new feature of the Forze IX is charged by recovering energy during braking and with excess power from the fuel cell; it achieves rapid acceleration, but also exerts a heavy load on the driveshaft compared to regular fuel cell power.

The team is planning track tests for the Forze IX, and its first race will likely be in summer 2024 during the next racing season.

The exchange between Kistler and Forze is a two-way process; Forze sends all of its data from the race track back to Kistler.

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Ahead of its launch in July, the electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is undergoing validation at the Nürburgring in Germany. The model combines Hyundai Motor’s Electrified-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) with N’s motorsport-bred technologies. The vehicle is being pushed to its absolute limits on the circuit to confirm it meets its mechanical endurance targets and to validate the functionality of the software.

Engineers from Hyundai’s Namyang R&D center in South Korea and from the European test base at the Nürburgring have worked closely together on the program. Hyundai N has used the racetrack to validate its motorsport solutions on N-brand vehicles for many years.

In the case of the Ioniq 5, Hyundai points out that particular emphasis has been placed on heat management to ensure maximum performance can be extracted from the EV; this has involved the implementation of advanced software to reinforce each hardware upgrade. Another focus has been the development of a new gearshift sound technology that is said to provide much better driver feedback than other EVs.

“The Nürburgring is where every N model is honed to the Nth degree, so our first high-performance, all-electric N model must also prove itself here,” said Till Wartenberg, vice president and head of N brand and motorsport at Hyundai Motor Company. “Ioniq 5 N just completed its 10,000km durability test on the Nordschleife, which is an important milestone that proves the vehicle’s high endurance and racetrack capability. And yet, we just began our second 10,000km test to push Ioniq 5 N’s limits.”

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This new video from Honda Performance Development (HPD) details the development of the CR-V Hybrid Racer. The engineers responsible tell the story behind the 14-month-long project to build the world’s only SUV powered by an IndyCar drivetrain.

A special one-off, it serves as a rolling laboratory for Honda’s electrified motorsport programs; it shares some components with the CR-V crossover and houses an IndyCar twin-turbo V6.

“The CR-V Hybrid Racer is a passion project for everyone at Honda involved with its design, engineering and contruction,” said David Salters, president and technical director for HPD, the North American racing arm of American Honda. “The Beast epitomizes Honda’s fun-to-drive ethos and racing heritage.”

Experts at HPD’s southern California facility developed the CR-V Hybrid Racer, then the Honda of America Racing Team constructed the vehicle at Honda’s North American Automotive Development Center in Ohio.

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To support the development of its power unit for Formula 1, Audi has signed a simulator pilot – Swiss pro racing driver Neel Jani. Alongside this, an update of the dynamic driving simulator is being run at the company’s Neuburg site to enable testing of the hybrid powertrain.

“Just like in production development, simulation plays a major role in our Formula 1 project. Our simulator is an important tool for the power unit development. It requires a development driver who, in addition to a grasp of technology, brings versatile experience to the project, especially in terms of energy management in racing conditions,” said Oliver Hoffmann, member of the board of management for technical development of Audi.

As a former test and reserve driver at Red Bull Racing, Jani has spent many hours in a F1 simulator. As a race driver in endurance racing, he also has valuable experience in a hybrid race car. “I am delighted to accompany Audi on their way into Formula 1,” he said. “It is both an honor and a great responsibility to be involved in a project of this magnitude at an early stage. I am sure that with my experience from Formula 1 and LMP projects I can forge good links between theory and practice.”

Since the end of 2022, Audi has been assessing a one-cylinder engine as part of the development of the power unit, which, according to the company, has been providing valuable data. The continuing concept phase is laying the performance-related groundwork of the power unit for 2026 when the new regulations provide for increasing electrification. The first hybrid powerplant, consisting of the ICE, electric motor, battery and control electronics, will be run on the dyno before the end of the year and will provide the basis for the future vehicle concept.

“At the moment, we are mainly focused on fundamental concept questions with high relevance to performance. However, in evaluating various technical solutions we rely not only on digital methods. Know-how, experience and practically relevant development are indispensable elements of drawing the right conclusions from the simulation. With that combination, we can assess various operating strategies at an early stage and pave the way for efficient energy management of the power unit,” said Adam Baker, CEO of Audi Formula Racing.

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The American professional racing organization Team Penske, which competes in 38 national championships, has purchased a Stratasys Neo800 3D printer to produce scale model components for aerodynamics testing.

The team will benefit immensely from having its first stereolithography-based 3D printer. According to production manager Matt Gimbel, the Neo printer’s open materials model and the high quality of the surface finish provided will be advantageous. When it comes to material selection, the organization now has much more flexibility as it can source material from any vendor. In addition, the large build volume of the Neo800 3D printer (800 x 800 x 600mm) enables the printing of larger parts and means that technicians will spend less time hand sanding, sectioning and joining parts together for wind tunnel testing.

“As additive manufacturing’s applications continue evolving in racing, Stratasys continues to help us rapidly improve race performance ahead of the competition so we can turn ideas into parts and get them onto the racetrack faster than ever before and with greater reliability than ever before. We can now make parts in ways not possible through traditional manufacturing,” added Gimbel. 

Stratasys has previously provided Team Penske with a variety of FDM and PolyJet 3D printers for prototyping, tooling, fixturing and end-use parts in cars and pit equipment.

Pat Carey, senior vice president of commercial development at Stratasys, commented, “With over 500 wins, Team Penske’s commitment to excellence is unrivaled in the motorsports industry. Achieving new heights of performance means constantly asking how things can be done better. As one of their chief partners in additive manufacturing solutions, we are committed to providing more winning solutions tailored for the racing industry than anyone else in the industry, so Team Penske can capture more checkered flags than any other racing organization in the world.”  

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Global motorsport governing body the FIA has selected Siemens Digital Industries Software as a key partner to help it improve sustainability in F1 and other racing championships. This means that the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio is the specified tool to be used by F1 teams – and the FIA – in the design and development of greener race cars with reduced energy consumption and emissions.

“As innovation and sustainability are two of the most important guiding principles of the FIA, we are pleased to welcome Siemens as an official supplier and to adopt their sustainable software solutions across our work on Formula 1 and other motorsport activities. Innovative collaborations such as this underline our commitment to becoming net zero carbon by 2030,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA.

Cedrik Neike, member of the managing board of Siemens and CEO of Digital Industries, added, “Motorsport and sustainability sound like a contradiction, but [sustainable motorsport] can be done using the right technologies. If motorsport achieves carbon neutrality, any industry can. With this collaboration, we plan to influence public perceptions and promote sustainable mobility. We are delighted to be selected as an official supplier to help the FIA meet its sustainability goals.”

Having achieved carbon neutrality and obtained ISO 14001:2015 certification in 2021, the FIA is continuing to explore new areas for development. The partnership builds on Siemens’ well-established relationship with the FIA and previous projects to drive digital transformation at the FIA.

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New CAN measurement technology from imc expands the remit of data capture in high-voltage environments. The CANSASfit HISO-HV-4 can be used to capture differential voltages up to 1,500V and has 1,000V CAT II and reinforced insulation. It is equipped with four channels with banana laboratory terminals, capable of delivering measurement data via CANbus at a maximum data rate of 1kHz per channel.

The very compact CANSASfit clickable housing enables direct mechanical and electrical docking to other fit modules, in particular to the complementary HISO module types HISO-T-8 and HISO-UT-6, which are designed for measurements of temperature sensors (TC, RTD), low voltages and MEMS accelerometers, all riding on high-voltage potentials.

The CANSASfit HISO-HV-4 augments the company’s CANSASfit technology portfolio but also aims to fill a gap in e-mobility testing, extending the range of EV and battery test possibilities. imc’s CANSASfit data acquisition product line is suitable for assessments in mobile applications or on test rigs, and enables direct connection of all typical signals, including voltage, current, temperature, rotational speed, displacement and velocity.

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Through the application of highly accurate 3D printed parts, McLaren Racing has been able to extract more meaningful results from aerodynamics tests in the wind tunnel in recent years. According to the race team, it has made big strides in its aero optimizations since the technology was adopted, and on top of this, it can now manufacture scale model top-bodies in just three days.

Tim Chapman, head of additive manufacturing at McLaren Racing, said, “Stereolithography technology and the materials have evolved – changing the way we use it. We do not just manufacture prototypes anymore; we now produce many full-scale components and full-size tooling.

“Wind tunnel testing is still the gold standard when assessing how every surface works together, either as an assembly or as a complete car. Our Neo series of 3D printers have helped us to dramatically reduce the lead times of our aerodynamic wind tunnel components and projects,” he affirms.

Initially, the impetus for using additive manufacturing was to bring down production costs because in 2021, following the Covid-19 pandemic, the budget cap in F1 was brought down from US$175m to US$145m, then in 2022 down to US$140m; for 2023 it is US$135m.

Using a Neo 800 stereolithography 3D printer from Stratasys, McLaren makes up to 9,000 parts per year across numerous front and rear wing programs as well as large parts of the side bodywork and top-body. All aerodynamic parts can be made at McLaren’s base in Woking, UK, which saves costs on subcontractors and quality assurance. The team can also 3D print jigs, templates and small molds that would have previously been machined from metal billets. From an aero testing perspective, 60% scale models can be carved out to assess and improve the car’s downforce. Somos Perform Reflect resin material is used, which was developed specifically for wind tunnel models and provides a strong, stiff part that takes 30% less time to post process.

Chapman continued, “We find the high-definition components from our Neo machines require minimal hand finishing, which allows much faster throughput to the wind tunnel. In addition to speed, we can now produce wind tunnel parts with supreme accuracy, detail and surface finish, which has enabled our team to enhance testing and find innovative new ideas to improve performance. I cannot overstate how important these benefits are in Formula 1, with super-tight deadlines to deliver cars to the next race, and where the smallest design iteration can make all the difference between winning, losing or making up positions on the grid.”

In addition to this, to enhance aerodynamics testing, McLaren embeds 50 to 60 air-pressure housings within its race cars to obtain air-pressure readings across the various surfaces.

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