Case Study: Zintilon & Formula ETS Collaboration for Uprights and Rockers

Spring on 2025, Thomas, a mechanical engineer at the Formula ETS electric racing team, turned to Zintilon for custom CNC machining to build his Delta-25 electric race car. Thomas needed to design and develop precision-engineered parts for the Formula ETS team, some with complex geometries that required 5-axis CNC machining. Knowing Zintilon’s machining capabilities, he sought Zintilon’s support to balance his requirements for performance, quality and cost.

What is Formula ETS?

Formula ETS is a scientific club made up of several students from École de technologie supérieure, who design and manufacture electric race cars to win Formula SAE and Formula Student competitions.

The team brings together outstanding students from electronics, dynamics, vehicle dynamics, aerodynamics, software and other majors. For 30+ years, they have been manufacturing race cars to compete, always adhering to the same goal: to win every race they enter.

The vehicles produced in our workshop are improved year by year, and we strive to push the limits of engineering technology to a higher level. -Thomas

Since 1988, their prototypes have been known for their complexity and avant-garde nature. In 2020, the team began developing electric race cars, and in 2023, they turned their attention to the field of autonomous driving.

Over the years, the team has won numerous awards in international engineering competitions, international university Formula SAE and international university Formula Student. These competitions bring together more than 600 universities from 46 different countries, where they race on the track for dynamic competitions and static displays in front of judges. In recent years, the team has traveled to Canada, the United States and Europe to compete.

How Zintilon Helped Formula ETS

Formula ETS needed CNC machined parts to support his electric race car, especially his suspension system’s uprights and rockers. They needed to be both lightweight and maintain high requirements for tolerances and part performance.

During this process, Zintilon’s business has been patiently communicating with the customer, checking customer needs and updating part processing progress.

The work on the car’s manufacturing continues, and we are now reaching a decisive stage: machining the vehicle parts. After designing the parts in CAD and performing the finite element analysis, we begin production. Each part is optimized to be both lightweight and rigid, while adhering to precise tolerances. Among the most complex components are the uprights and rockers, which are carefully machined to ensure high performance.
Once machining is complete, the aluminum parts will undergo anodizing to strengthen them and provide a black finish. With each step, our prototype takes shape and gets closer to the competition.

On-Time Delivery of 5-Axis CNC Parts

Thomas, as a mechanical engineer of the Formula ETS team, was impressed by Zintilon’s precision engineering.

I ordered multiple parts, some of which had quite complex structures. I asked if all the parts could be delivered within 2 weeks, and the business representative who was in contact with me said that some of the parts needed to be processed on a 5-axis CNC machine, so the time might not be achievable, however, I still received these parts within 2 weeks. When I unboxed them, I was amazed that these parts turned our design into reality. Thanks to Zintilon!

Pittsburgh Shootout Ranked 2

Thanks to Zintilon’s precision engineering, after Thomas assembled the parts and repeated testing, he found that the parts perfectly met his expectations in terms of tolerance and performance. At the same time, the originally set delivery cycle was completed on time. In 2025, Formula ETS took second place overall at this year’s Pittsburgh Shootout.