Jun 23rd, 2010
Jun 30th, 2010
Jul 7th, 2010
Jul 14th, 2010
Jul 21st, 2010
Jul 28th, 2010
Aug 4th, 2010
Aug 11th, 2010
Aug 18th, 2010
Aug 25th, 2010
Green & Mean
OSU Engineering Projects: Eco-Friendly, Still Ballsy
By Christian Root
Ohio State University College of Engineering students are busy making the world’s first hydrogen-powered land speed research vehicle—the Buckeye Bullet 2.
 |
Buckeye Bullet team members. Photo courtesy of buckeyebullet.com |
The Buckeye Bullet 2 is being developed by the same OSU department that produced the Buckeye Bullet, the fastest electric vehicle ever made.
With gas prices at an all-time high, the hydrogen vehicle will help to advance and improve petroleum free fuel cells, creating a much needed decrease in gas sales. Buckeye Bullet 2, which is sponsored by more than 50 industrial companies and directed by OSU Prof. Giorgio Rizzoni, will also help to develop better aerodynamics for future vehicles and produce more fuel-efficient machines.
In addition to the Buckeye Bullet 2, OSU engineering students have been working on another cutting edge fuel-efficient ride, this one built for the Challenge X Competition.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors Corporations, and other organizations and companies in the U.S. and Canada, Challenge X is a three-year competition designed to optimize the engineering and performance of gas-electric hybrid cars. In 2005, OSU was one of only 17 universities in the U.S. and Canada to be involved in the project.
Team OSU’s vehicle replaces a stock engine and transmission with a Fiat 1.9 liter turbodiesel and an automatic 6-speed transmission, includes a rear axle powered by an electric drive, and for battery power uses 1.5 packs from the Toyota Prius hybrid.
The last week of May, members of the OSU Engineering Department will haul their vehicle to Arizona for the 2006 Challenge X Competition.
Also on the fuel-economy tip, OSU’s Center for Automotive Research, or CAR, will open Ohio’s first hydrogen refueling station. Only fifteen other refueling stations like it exist in the United States.
“No one is saying that hydrogen will necessarily be the only fuel of the future,” Rizzoni, the director of the project, stated in a press release. “But having a hydrogen refueling station at the Center for Automotive Research gives researchers and students many new opportunities to explore cutting-edge technologies.”
Originally Published: May 24, 2006
