Buckeye Bullet: Fastest Electrical Car Design by Ohio State University Students

The Buckeye Bullet, designed entirely in SolidWorks 3D mechanical design software by Ohio State University students, has just set a land speed record for the fastest electric car on earth. Topping out at more than 314 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah last week, the Buckeye Bullet withstood desert conditions and intense pressure at the World Finals to achieve the fastest speed of any completely electrically powered car ever built.

Four years ago, a team of OSU students began to design, build, test, and race the Buckeye Bullet to break all land speed records. Through its Center for Automotive Research, the university has fueled 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. After repeatedly beating teams from other universities, OSU students decided to aim for land speed records. They chose SolidWorks Education Edition software 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-in