The Venturi VBB-3, a 3,000 hp electric car build by Monaco-based Venturi and students from The Ohio State University, set two new FIA recognized electric land speed records this week at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
The Venturi VBB-3, otherwise known as the Venturi Buckeye Bullet, averaged 341.4 mph (549.4 km/h) on the mandatory two-way run. It also claimed the top speed record at 358 mph (576 km/h).
The LSR record is an average of two one mile miles in opposite directions with an hour between runs. The interval allows time for the battery and other components to cool down after a top speed event. Running the course in both directions cancels out any advantage from a tail wind.
There goes #VBB3 on the second leg of this morning’s record attempt. @venturi #BulletSuit pic.twitter.com/Tg2taD5a6I
— Spacesuit Media (@Spacesuit_Media) September 19, 2016
With Roger Schroer (from the Transportation Research Center TRC, Ohio) behind the wheel, this is the 5th time in their history that Venturi reached with the Center For Automotive Research (The Ohio State University) this level of performance.
In 2009 the Monaco powertrain manufacturer clinched the FIA world speed record for a fuel cell car (303 mph / 487 km/h). In 2010 the Venturi VBB-2.5 realized the FIA world speed record for an electric vehicle (307 mph / 495 km/h), and in 2014 and 2015 two new category records.
The new record was three years in coming. Crummy weather during the three previous years’ trials have kept speeds down. Built in the first half of 2013, this 3rd generation of Venturi VBB could have run in September 2013. Severe weather that hit Utah 3 years in a row led to the cancellation of record attempts.
For Venturi Automobiles the VBB program is a strategic approach and is a fantastic test for electric powertrain in harsh conditions and environments. This scope allows innovation in the fields of electric propulsion and energy efficiency one of the great challenges of the automotive industry. Each component of the vehicle was specifically studied, designed and built for that particular application that has no reference. For CAR it is an incomparable way to expose 25 young engineers to experience the realities of development applied to automotive technology and innovative methods of propulsion.
