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BOLT
Advisor: Rick Clark
Battery Operated Land Transport or BOLT, is Virginia Tech's
version of an electric motorcycle. The first BOLT vehicle,
the Mk. I, became reality in 2012 and became the fastest
75 class bike in the western hemisphere. In 2014 the Mk.
II placed first in the all electric category of the American
Historic Racing Motorcycle Association eMotoRacing sprint
race. In March 2016 the team raced (and won) with the Mk.
II while simultaneously beginning designs for the Mk. III.
The Mk. III design promises a faster bike, using additive
manufacturing techniques to prototype and design custom
parts for the next generation BOLT.
The custom battery box, above,
holds 64 cells and was designed using additive manufacturing prototyping tools. The
bike, left, will be built throughout the new academic year.
GrandTouring
Advisor: Steve Southward
The Virginia Tech Grand Touring team began in August
2014 with the goal of turning a $500 used BMW into a
race car to compete in endurance races like the Optima
Batteries ChumpCar series.
Virginia Tech has been a pioneer within the ChumpCar
organization to increase university participation. Students
apply value engineering principles and technical knowledge from their courses to make a race worthy vehicle as
part of their Senior Design project.