Electric racing pioneers, Drayson Racing, set a new FIA world ‘electric’ land speed record yesterday at Elvington Airfield, England – reaching a speed of 204.185mph.
The record, subject to final FIA confirmation, was measured as an average of two runs completed within the hour and was set by former science minister and businessman Lord Paul Drayson in his Drayson B12 69/EV electric Le-Mans Prototype.
Co-driver Jonny Cocker, who raced with Lord Drayson in the British GT series, was on hand and helped develop the car prior to yesterday’s record run.
In near perfect conditions, the Oxford-based sustainable motorsport company smashed the previous 175mph record, which had stood for nearly forty years.
Ironically Nissan Motorsports, which revealed its ZEOD RC 2014 Le Mans entry last week described it as ‘the world’s fastest electric racing car’ – capable of speeds of more than 300km/h (186mph). They’ll now have to raise their game if they wish to re-claim that mantle.
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.”
“This is a true celebration of Britain’s leading position within the burgeoning electric vehicle industry and I’m delighted to be at the forefront of this electric revolution. We hope to set more records tomorrow. ”
That’s right. Drayson and his team haven’t finished. They’ll be running the car again today and hope to beat their own world record plus extend their winning ways with a new EV acceleration record.
VIDEO: Drayson B12/69 Hyper EV test in January 2013 at Rockingham race circuit.
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