Lola B12/69 EV Sets New Electric Speed Record At 204.2mph

A new world record for the fastest electric car on the planet has been set by Drayson Racing, who took a Lola B12/69 EV Le Mans race car and topped it out at a quick 204.2mph, beating the previous record of a measly 175mph that was set in 1974 by Battery Box General Electric. Last week, Nissan went 186mph in their Zeod RC hybrid, but the Lola runs on complete electric power.

Drayson Racing built the Lola EV to demonstrate what electric car technology is capable of, and the company sees it as a starting point for implementing the technology into future race cars, as well as in production vehicles. Nissan even plans to enter their Zeod RC into the 24 Hours of Le Mans race to show off electric cars on the race track against traditional gas-guzzlers.

The Lola comes packing with a 20-kilowatt hour battery that offers up to as much as 850 horsepower, which rivals that of McLaren's new P1 hybrid car. The Lola B12/69 EV is actually just a modified Le Mans car that has features like recycled carbon fiber and amazing aerodynamics. The only difference is that the gas engine was swapped out for a chunk of battery, and the whole vehicle weighs less than 2,200 lbs.

As for the when the Lola will compete in races, Drayson Racing says that it probably won't enter the car in any competitions, but the company said that they plan to build their own machine for which they'll enter in competitions in 2015 starting with the FIA's Formula E championship.

One of the big problems, though, with electric race cars is that it's relatively easy to make an EV that goes really fast, but making it go farther on a single charge, as well as making it more practical is way more difficult, according to Drayson. They say that it comes down to the basic physics of how batteries store energy and release it.

VIA: BBC

SOURCE: Drayson Racing