Bangladesh AutoFest 2026 brought together the country’s automotive community for a two-day celebration of engineering, performance and innovation at ALOKI on the Tejgaon-Gulshan Link Road in Dhaka.

Organised by Eeleven-E11 and The Slow Kids, the event featured modified performance cars, supercars, leading automotive dealers, interactive exhibits and motorsport attractions, attracting enthusiasts, industry professionals and collectors from across the country.

One of the major highlights of the event was the participation of Bangladesh’s leading Formula Student teams. Eeleven-E11 invited IUB FormulaE, Formula IUT, MIST Blitz, Team Crack Platoon and Team Kilo Flight to showcase their student-built race cars, demonstrating the country’s growing capabilities in automotive engineering, electric mobility and motorsport innovation.

Formula Student, known as Formula SAE in North America, is an international engineering competition in which university students design, build and race formula-style cars. Teams are evaluated not only on vehicle performance but also on engineering design, manufacturing, cost management and business presentation. The competition is held in countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, China and the United States.

Among the participating teams, IUB FormulaE from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Independent University, Bangladesh, showcased its Formula Student electric race car powered by a self-developed electric powertrain. The team engineered its own motor, motor controller, embedded control system and power electronics, and has qualified for Formula Student China 2025.

Formula IUT highlighted its international achievements, including third overall at Formula Bharat 2024, a global top eight finish in the Business Presentation category at Formula Student China 2025, and appearances in the finals of Formula Student UK in 2022 and 2023.

RUET’s Team Crack Platoon, which built Bangladesh’s first Formula Student race car, showcased its achievements since competing at FSAE Japan 2017. The team later received the “Most Passionate Team Award” at FSAE Japan 2019 and also recorded notable results at Formula Bharat 2024.

MIST Blitz presented its race car after becoming the first Bangladeshi team to pass technical inspection and complete the Endurance event at Formula Student China 2025. The team received the “Best Foreign Team Award”, “Best Presentation Award” and secured fourth place in the Business Plan Presentation category.

Team Kilo Flight from KUET showcased its achievements after becoming the first Bangladeshi team to pass Mechanical Inspection at Formula Student Japan 2023. The team later secured third overall in the CV category at the Formula Student Concept Competition India 2025.

The gathering of all five teams reflected the progress made by Bangladeshi universities in Formula Student competitions despite limited resources.

Organisers noted that student teams continue to face challenges, including high import duties, lengthy customs clearance procedures for research and development components, and difficulties transporting race cars and equipment after participating in international competitions.

They emphasised that a more research-friendly policy environment, including simplified customs procedures, lower duties on research and development components, and streamlined temporary export-import regulations for Formula Student vehicles, would help strengthen Bangladesh’s automotive engineering ecosystem and support the development of the country’s future mobility industry.