BYU placed fourth overall and took second-place awards for presentation and acceleration at the Formula Hybrid Competition in New Hampshire this May. As part of the engineering capstone class, 13 students spent more than 8,000 hours designing and building the car, right down to its custom-made, carbon-fiber frame. At a slim 450 pounds (half of last year’s average weight), “Lithium Lightning” does zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds and gets 80 miles to the gallon. The system uses 120 candy-bar-sized lithium batteries coupled with a gas engine to supply power directly to the generator instead of the wheels. The BYU students competed against 39 teams from around the world. | Photography: Kenny Crookston
Out of the Blue
