OverDrive's Season 2 appearance.
OverDrive is a heavyweight robot which competed in the first two seasons of ABC's BattleBots reboot. Its main weapon was a motorized 4-bar lifting arm. OverDrive was built by Christian Carlberg of Team Coolrobots. OverDrive's wheels are powered by brushless hub motors used in e-bike kits. OverDrive was designed around using these wheels because Carlberg had plenty of them to use, and they were easy to use as a drive train. Since for the first season of BattleBots teams had little time to build, this helped speed up the build process. OverDrive performed decently as it reached the round of 16 before losing to Witch Doctor.
For Season 2, OverDrive was completely rebuilt from scratch and it was now armed with a vertical spinning bar. However, it was a two-wheeled robot now and it was smaller than the original OverDrive. Unfortunately, this version of OverDrive performed even worse as it lost its first and only match to Escape Velocity.
OverDrive wouldn't return for Season 3, as it was replaced with Christian's new heavyweight, Mecha Rampage.
Robot History
ABC Season 1
OverDrive's Season 1 appearance.
OverDrive almost flips Chomp.
OverDrive's first ever opponent was Chomp. Chomp made many attempts to throw flames at OverDrive, but OverDrive was simply too fast for Chomp to make contact with. OverDrive made one attempt to flip Chomp, but Chomp luckily stayed on its wheels. Despite this, without the use of its claw, Chomp was earning very few points before being backed into the BattleBox screws in an incredible move by Overdrive. The screws carried Chomp up onto the rails, where it could not escape. This meant OverDrive won by a KO at 1:57. OverDrive had not won without any consequences though as one of the wheels had stopped working. This win put OverDrive to the round of 16, where it faced the No.9 seed Witch Doctor.
Witch Doctor hits the left side of OverDrive.
OverDrive charged at them head-on, slamming into Shaman before getting a hit on Witch Doctor. After a brief game of cat-and-mouse, OverDrive ran into the wall, allowing Witch Doctor to strike. After another chase, Witch Doctor hit OverDrive again, and then a third hit flipped OverDrive upside-down. Struggling to right-itself, OverDrive ran itself into the wall. Witch Doctor struck it again, flipping over but taking out one of its wheels. With the loss of its mobility, OverDrive was rendered useless and Witch Doctor easily took the win by KO at 1:24. This meant that OverDrive was eliminated from the tournament.
ABC Season 2
The first hit between OverDrive's spinning blade and Escape Velocity.
OverDrive's only opponent in the tournament was Escape Velocity. The fight started well for OverDrive, with Escape Velocity's small full body spinner crashing into the wall and getting flipped over. However, things quickly
Escape Velocity flips OverDrive in the final seconds.
turned in Escape Velocity's favor when OverDrive's spinning bar broke shortly after that hit. Suddenly, Escape Velocity had the upper hand, flipping OverDrive until it landed on its front before the time ran out. Escape Velocity won on a unanimous 3-0 judge's decision and OverDrive was eliminated from the tournament. OverDrive unfortunately was not chosen to be a wild card meaning it was eliminated from the tournament again.
OverDrive wasn't finished yet as it particpated in a small rumble with Bad Kitty and The Ringmaster. The rumble started out relatively well for OverDrive as it took on Bad Kitty, but Bad Kitty ripped off a side panel of Overdrive's orange wedge, and it was quickly flipped over in short order and The Ringmaster came in and damage one of OverDrive's tires. OverDrive was left spinning in circles and on its top and was counted out, eliminating it from the rumble.
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 1
- Losses: 3
| Competition | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| ABC Season 1 | Chomp | Witch Doctor |
| ABC Season 2 | None |
The message on OverDrive's base.
Faruq Tauheed Introductions
"Somebody call the jaws of life- you're about to get a crash course in destruction. It's OVERDRIVE!"
"It's built by an air force engineer, so you know it's going to be the bomb! Let's make some noise for OVERDRIVE!"
"Get ready for some father-daughter robot slaughter. It's OVERDRIVE!"
"It's not a robot, it's a doom buggy. Strap in for OVERDRIVE!"
Trivia
- The robots that defeated Overdrive (Witch Doctor and Escape Velocity who also have their own mini-bots, Shaman of Witch Doctor and a full-body spinner mini-bot of Escape Velocity) would later fight Tombstone in the next round and lose. (Their mini-bots would also be removed to add more armor to the main bot.)