Friday, October 4, 2013

Academic Acceleration: Dutch Students Break EV 0–60 Record

Students from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have broken the 0–100 kph (62 mph) world record for an electric vehicle with a blistering time of just 2.15 seconds, beating the previous record of 2.68 seconds. To put these numbers into perspective, consider that our best efforts in a Tesla Roadster Sport yielded a time of four-seconds flat, and 4.6 seconds for the Tesla Model S. Even more impressive, the time beats the 2.3-second time of the 475-hp Ariel Atom V8, widely considered to be one of the quickest gasoline-powered production cars available. “We thought that under these conditions we’d be happy with 2.30, but we really didn’t expect 2.15,” says team manager Tim de Moree.



The tiny single-seat car, dubbed the DUT12, is built around a carbon-fiber-reinforced-plastic monocoque, weighing in at a flyweight 319 pounds. Four wheel-mounted, 33-hp electric motors draw juice from a 4.2-kW lithium-ion battery for a total output of 135 horsepower—a setup that works out to more than 2.3 ponies per pound. Driving honors went to Marly Kuijpers, who—surprise!—was the lightest member of the team.

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