Former science minister and racing driver Lord Paul Drayson has set a new UK electric land speed record for an electric car under 1000kg, recording an average top speed of 204.185mph in two one-mile runs at Elvington in Yorkshire.
The result, recorded at the wheel of Drayson Racing’s modified Le Mans Prototype racing car, eclipses the former record by 29.2mph.
Following his record-breaking run Drayson said: “What we’ve achieved shows that EVs can be fast and reliable – and that the UK can be a leader in such technlogy. This project was set up as a test bed for EV technology, and we’ve shown what can be achieved by running it at an extreme level.
“The real challenge has been accelerating a 1000kg electric vehicle on a short runway over a measured mile, rather than the outright top speed. On the last run I had to use all the braking area to get the car stopped. It really was tight for space.”
Drayson and his team will attempt to break more speed records with the car at Elvington today.
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Not that quick?
I appreciate that it is probably quite a landmark achievement for an electric car, but an improvement of 29.2 mph in about 40 years isn't exactly massive, is it?