Students from the Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah have successfully concluded a seven-year project by setting a land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Dubbed the Electric Blue, the streamlined vehicle – designed and engineered by students at BYU – set a world record for its E1 weight class (below 1,100 pounds), by averaging 155.8 miles per hour over two qualifying runs, one of which tripped the lights at a staggering 175 mph.
The record marks the successful conclusion of seven years of development and the contributions of more than 130 students, in a project lead by now-retired associate professor Perry Carter, who said:
This is a wonderful closure to 31 years of teaching at BYU and many projects. But this is the one that takes the cake. I'm done.
Electric Blue features a carbon fiber body, lithium-ion batteries and was designed to be extremely aerodynamic. With less than an inch of ground clearance, the vehicle teeters on the edge of disaster every time it hits the Flats. Although the BYU team achieved a unofficial speed of 139 mph back in 2010, the vehicle rolled during its required second run, damaging it and nixing any chance of it setting an official record. Thankfully, this year's attempt went off without a hitch, sending Electric Blue into the record books. Hit the jump to catch video of the record-setting Salt Flats action.