Drayson Racing sets world electric speed record at 328kmph
Electric vehicles are generally not synonymous with exciting. But at 328kmph, Drayson racing's car is set to shake things up a bit. Drayson has set a FIA world land speed record for electric vehicles.
Drayson Racing B12 69 EV
Drayson Racing Technologies' B12 69/EV electric race car pulled off the Speed Record at a racetrack at RAF Elvington in Yorkshire. The previous world electric land speed record was held by Battery Box Electric. The record of 282kmph was set almost 40 years ago in 1974.
Drayson Racing is an Oxford-based company founded by Lord Paul Drayson in 2007. Lord Drayson, former minister of science in the UK, in also an amateur racer and business tycoon. He manned the B12 69/EV electric Le-Mans Prototype in the record shattering attempt.
Lord Drayson described the Drayson Racing R&D as "a laboratory for EV technology, testing it to the most extreme level". "It is not the outright speed of 204.185mph that is most impressive about this record, but the engineering challenge of accelerating a 1,000kg 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," he added.
The car is powered by an A123 lithium-ion phosphate structural battery that churns out 850BHp with acceleration numbers of 0 to 100 in 3 seconds. The chassis is a composite monocoque LMP1 made from natural and recycled body panels. The driving assembly is Drayson's 4X2-640 drivetrain, which has four electric motors with a single integrated transmission. The car also boasts of regenerative braking, torque vectoring and traction control.
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