UK land-speed record for an electric vehicle reaches 151mph
Fri 28 September 2012
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The Nemesis, a modified Lotus Exige, has recorded an average speed of 151.6mph (244km/h) over a mile-long course at an airfield near York, breaking the land speed record for an electric vehicle by nearly 15mph.
The car was designed and built by a team of British motorsport engineers in Norfolk, and driven by Nick Ponting, 21, from Gloucestershire.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Ponting said: "It was brilliant. The car felt really good. The conditions were perfect. We've smashed the record and then gone and done a second run and done it again. The acceleration is phenomenal. It gets to the top speed very quickly."
The car runs on renewable electricity which has been generated by wind turbines, run by the Stroud-based company Ecotricity.
Reported in The Guardian, Dale Vince, the founder of Ecotricity, said the company had built the Nemesis to "stimulate thought and debate about how we'll be getting around when the world runs out of oil. And what we've been able to demonstrate is that wind-powered cars are not just feasible, but can be a load of fun."
Dale Vince says that, hypothetically, the car should be able to achieve 200mph, but real-world conditions reduce that considerably. The car is capable of travelling up to 150 miles between charges, slightly more than most consumer electric cars in the UK, such as the Nissan Leaf, which have a battery range of around 110 miles.
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