Tucked away in an Ohio State University garage is where aspiring innovators and engineers get their start.
“It's awesome,” said Michael Johanni, a recent OSU graduate who spent years learning from industry experts at the Center of Automotive Research, also known as CAR.
“I started as a high school intern way back when,” said Johanni, who says he always had a love for doing things with his hands.
This year CAR celebrates 25 years of innovative collaborations. The center has been awarded nine prestigious, government-funded research programs. It works with a number of companies and institutes of higher education from across the world.
“We get to work with industry people to create all the systems on the car,” said Johanni.
Johanni was one of the students who played an integral role in building the Buckeye Bullet, the fastest land speed electric race car.
“We've taken the car from 0 to 358 miles per hour and that took just over 100 seconds,” Johanni said.
The team of students spent about 3 years working on the vehicle. Their dedication to the project was solely based on their love for cars.
“There is no class credit. It's not a part of the curriculum at all,” said Johanni. “It's completely volunteer based.”
The car is 38 feet long and weighs 7,900 pounds without a driver in it.
“Comprised of four motors, eight battery packs, two transmissions, two brakes and then we stop with three parachutes,” said Johanni as he showed 10TV the electric vehicle.
The next goal for the team is for Buckeye Bullet to be the first electric car to go 400 miles per hour.