Drayson electric racer breaks four speed records

A BRITISH electric racing car has set four new land speed records on the same day.

The Drayson Racing prototype racing car, which is powered solely by electricity, set new benchmarks for speeds over one mile and one kilometre with a flying start, plus a new standing quarter-mile acceleration record.

The fourth record, subject to ratification, is a British land speed record for cars of any type driven by their wheels over one mile from a flying start.

Speeds of 205.139mph and 333.271kph (207.084mph) were enough to seal the flying start records over the mile and kilometre respectively. The official figures are the average of two measured runs in opposite directions at England’s Elvington Airfield, in line with land speed record rules.

These speeds also clinched the British land speed record for wheel-driven cars of any propulsion type, which is perhaps the least convincing of the accolades given that several petrol-powered production cars built in Britain can exceed 205mph.

The all-electric racer covered the quarter mile from a standing start in an impressive 9.742 seconds to seal the final record of the event, with a top speed of 92.383mph.

Lord Drayson, who owns and drives the prototype racing car, said: “We are continuing the testing and development programme of our electric drivetrain technology and we are delighted with the results achieved today.

"Drayson Racing is a laboratory for novel EV technology such as the high power Qualcomm HaloTM wireless charging system, testing it to the most extreme level and that’s why we do this.

“The engineering challenge of accelerating a 995kg electric car to these speeds and then stopping in time on such a short runway is pretty intense, but it’s a great proving ground for our technology.

“It’s also an exciting way of demonstrating what’s possible with a state of the art electric vehicle.”

By Press Association reporter