The Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb is considered one of the most challenging race events in motorsports. Known as the Race to the Clouds, it’s an annual invitational automobile and motorcycle hill climb race over 12.42 miles of road featuring 156 turns and a finish line at the 14,115 ft. mountain summit.
The 2016 Buckeye Current electric motorcycle team placed third in the all-electric class at the 2016 Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb. (Image courtesy of Ohio State University/Buckeye Current.)
One of only three university teams selected to participate, the Ohio State University’s electric motorcycle team took to this challenge with gusto.
If anyone ever told these OSU engineers to get their heads out of the clouds, well, they obviously didn’t listen.
OSU’s team announced on Twitter that they placed third in the electric motorcycle class of the 2016 PPIHC competition that took place last week with their all-electric RW-3x racing motorcycle called Buckeye Current. This follows up on the team’s 2015 competition success, where they placed second in the all-electric class.
Buckeye Current operates out of the OSU’s Center for Automotive Research, which is part of the College of Engineering. The student-led project team designs and builds all-electric road-racing motorcycles which they race at the professional level in national and international competitions.
Most of the more than 30 team members are undergraduates who have devoted the entire academic year to redesigning and building their newest motorcycle. Design advancements included custom suspension and handling characteristics, a more powerful battery pack, a higher performance cooling system and the framework for implementing an antilock braking system.
"The team has worked incredibly hard with unique dedication and commitment, and has made phenomenal progress in refining RW-3x," said Marcello Canova, the team’s faculty advisor and a professor in OSU’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
But the fruits of the team’s efforts aren’t only the motorcycle and the prestige of a successful race. Students who take part in this and OSU’s other experiential-learning automotive teams become highly sought after graduates by the automotive industry.
“Student projects at Ohio State are life-changing,” said team leader and electrical engineering graduate student Aaron Bonnell-Kangas. “They're the practical experience that students and employers are both hungry for, and a chance for students to explore techniques and concepts they would never reach otherwise.”
The team also benefits from a wide range of industry sponsors, such as Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Bosch and Honda of America.
To follow the Buckeye Current team and their motorsport projects, check out the Ohio State University’s website.