A British-made lightweight electric-powered car on Wednesday set a new world land-speed record after it touched 328.6 km per hour.
The Lola B12 69/EV, made by motorsport company Drayson Racing Technologies, surpassed the Battery Box General Electric’s 281.6 kph, achieved in 1974, at a Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire.
The company’s chief executive, Lord Drayson, who was behind the wheel, said the achievement was designed to highlight electronic vehicle technology’s potential.
Car of the future
“What it, I hope, shows to people is just what the future potential of electric cars is,” Lord Drayson said shortly after his record-breaking time was confirmed.
“It is a pointer to the future — the technology that we developed for this car will filter down to the cars we use every day,” he said.
In order to qualify for an attempt on the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) world electric land-speed record, the team had to make its vehicle weigh less than 1,000kg without the driver.
To do this, it adapted a Le Mans Series car it had previously designed which originally had a bio-ethanol fuel engine and replaced the part with a lightweight 20-kilowatt/hour battery offering 850 horsepower.
The team also adapted the vehicle’s chassis, which is made out of recycled carbon fibre, to minimise air friction.
