The electric land speed record

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October 29, 2004 The Ohio State University's electric vehicle, the Buckeye Bullet, has broken the electric vehicle land speed record, raising the bar to more than 300 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt flat last week.

Over several days the car set an official world record of 271.7mph, an official US record of 314.95mph (different rules), and became the fastest electric vehicle ever at 321.8mph.

The Bullet was designed and built by undergraduate and graduate students at Ohio State University (OSU), and has been pushing the electric land speed record upward since it first set a new mark of 257 mph 12 months ago. With the record now firmly in its grasp the team is fund-raising for its next attempt, and in the process is offering a piece of history.

The team has a novel promotional idea to give everyone a chance to share in the historical occasion and get a memento to own. The Buckeye Bullet 400 horsepower electric motor is fed by 12,000 nickel-metal hydride batteries and the batteries used in the record attempt are to be sold individually at US$20 a shot. Accordingly, the team could deservedly bolster its finances by US$240,000.

Through its Centre for Automotive Research, the university has fuelled students' enthusiasm for automotive engineering for more than 10 years by competing in events to design and race electric cars. The projects teach students about sponsorship, teamwork, dealing with suppliers, meeting deadlines, and matching analysis results to refining designs.

Four years ago, after repeatedly beating teams from other universities, OSU students decided to aim for land speed records. They chose SolidWorks Education Edition mechanical design software (www.3dvision.com .) for the Buckeye Bullet project because of the software's intuitive interface and powerful design capabilities.

"Weight is a huge factor in designing fast electric vehicles," said Isaac Harper, Buckeye Bullet team leader and an OSU junior. "We need to fit a 17-inch diameter motor into a 24-inch chassis, and still ensure the motor is relatively light while delivering the performance to maintain speeds as high as 300 miles per hour. SolidWorks gives us the design visibility to make sure every component meets every single spec that could affect the car's overall performance."

SolidWorks' short learning curve helps freshmen quickly get up to speed on 3D modelling, while its association template automates changes throughout the design, saving time otherwise spent recreating solid models, according to Harper, who is working as a co-op student in research and development at Honda.

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