As electric cars are making their way to the mainstream, they are beginning to blend in a little more (remember the very first Honda Insight?). But maybe that’s a bad thing. Although brands like Tesla have helped improve the overall image, there is still more to do to make electric appear and perform more attractively. When it comes to pushing the envelope, college students tend to deliver, and some dedicated engineering students have actually pushed beyond the limits.
Modern electric cars have been proving that performance can be clean and quiet, but that has only fueled the one-upmanship. Brigham Young University engineering students decided a record-breaking rendition would be the most appropriate way to elevate the electric car further. According to a BYU News article, the students have set the land speed record for an electric car, again.
The Electric Blue streamliner recently reached 204.9 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats, beating the previous record by 50 mph. There have been faster electric cars, but not in the E1 category where the vehicle weight is less than 1100 pounds. The previous record holder is actually the same car as setup in 2011.
The vehicle has been an ongoing project for students at BYU. It was designed and upgraded by more than 130 BYU students over the past 10 years. The design will go out on a high note as it is now retired. The project has been a collaborative effort, too.
A majority of the students involved have been manufacturing engineering technology or mechanical engineering students, but other disciplines have contributed as well. These contributions have come through a combination of capstone course projects and volunteer labor. The students worked to design, simulate and build the carbon fiber body for minimum resistance. Power comes from lithium iron phosphate batteries.
While Electric Blue is not something you’ll be seeing on the road, you can bet the students who worked on this project will take the experience with them when they graduate. Some of the students who got to design and build this vehicle may very well take the same inspiration into future employment where the concepts will indeed show up in commercial applications.
A video for the 2011 record setting run is below.
Image Source: BYU News