Buckeye Current team from OSU plans to break the ton at TT ZERO

A student team at The Ohio State University, the Buckeye Current team, is getting ready to run at the 2013 TT ZERO. The team has a small budget, and a goal to build the fastest collegiate entry in the TT ZERO. Specifically, they want to Break The Ton (a 100+ miles/hr lap). That goal was first met in the 2012 TT ZERO when MotoCzysz and Mugen both broke the ton.

“Our goal here is really to develop the newest electrical vehicle technology, so we want to build an awesome motorcycle to take to the Isle of Man and really show that electric vehicles can be the next form of transportation,” said Nathan Lord, the electrical team lead and a third-year in electrical and computer engineering.

The team wasn’t able to make it to TT ZERO in previous years, but they have had a couple outings with the East Coast Timing Association (ECTA) land speed record events. In July 2012 they posted this: “Just set a new Electric ECTA record at 131.051. Great work team and stellar driving Jenn!” In March 2012, the team was visited by President Obama.

For the 2013 TT ZERO they have a whole new bike and the $55,000 budget breaks down to $12,000 for electronics and battery management, $20,000 for batteries, $9,000 for the bike’s frame and $5,000 for the body and miscellaneous costs.

Source: The Lantern – Facebook

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David Herron is a writer and software engineer living in Silicon Valley. He primarily writes about electric vehicles, clean energy systems, climate change, peak oil and related issues. When not writing he indulges in software projects and is sometimes employed as a software engineer. David has written for sites like PlugInCars and TorqueNews, and worked for companies like Sun Microsystems and Yahoo.