Drayson Racing Technologies has set a new World Electric Land Speed Record for a lightweight electric car of 204.185 mph (328.6 km/h).
Former science minister, businessman and racing driver Lord Drayson was behind the wheel of the Drayson B12 69/EV electric Le-Mans Prototype.
In near perfect conditions, the Oxford-based sustainable motorsport company smashed the previous 175mph record, which had stood for nearly forty years set by Battery Box General Electric, by 29.2mph.
In order to qualify for an attempt on the FIA world electric land speed record it had to make its vehicle weigh less than 1,000kg (2,204lb) without the driver.
As the new world record holder, Lord Drayson commented: “I’m delighted we’ve beaten the record tonight and can show the world EVs can be fast and reliable. Drayson Racing is a laboratory for EV technology, testing it to the most extreme level, as we’ve seen today.”
“It is not the outright speed of 203mph that is most impressive about this record, but the engineering challenge of accelerating a 1000kg electric vehicle on a short runway over a measured mile. However I’ve got a great team and world-class partners, such as QualcommHalo, Michelin, Multimatic and Cosworth.”
Drayson Racing will attempt to break more speed records with the car, such as the EV acceleration record, at Elvington in Yorkshire today, after which a full release with all data and FIA confirmed records will be issued.[wzslider height=”400″ lightbox=”true”]
