And they say electric cars don’t go fast. A group of BYU engineering students have built an electric streamliner that peaked at speeds of 282km/h. With that quiet electric motor I’ll bet the “whoosh” it makes is gorgeous.
It took seven years and the work of more than 130 students to make it happen. The car, called Electric Blue, barrelled down the Bonneville Salt Flats for two runs, averaging 250km/h and peaking at 282km/h (they got it up to 290km/h last year but rolled the car in the process, so it didn’t count). Students custom built the body out of carbon fibre after intensive modelling in a virtual wind tunnel. Fuelled by a trunk full of lithium-ion phosphate batteries, this sucker officially broke the world land speed record for electric cars under 500kg.
Batteries that are powerful enough to accomplish such a feat are extremely heavy, and before this no one had been able to get enough juice in while keeping it under weight. While, obviously, this type of car is in no way street-legal, it’s another important step in showing what battery-powered cars are capable of.
Big congrats to everyone involved in the project, now can you please make something I can take down the Pacific Hwy? Preferably with a sunroof? Thanks. [PhysOrg]
EckyThump
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 9:52 AMThere should be no surprise that an electric vehicle can go so fast! Petrol speed technology has pretty much reached it’s peek, and now they’re concentrating on economy, as it should be! Electric however is only at the beginning of it’s ability, when some of the new capacitor batteries start coming out, you will see an incredible release of energy incredibly fast, and I would not be surprised if they don’t get it past the sound barrier within the next five or ten years! #]
Allegoryator
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 8:26 PMWell written comment. I especially loved “Petrol speed technology has pretty much reached it’s peek”. It’s not a typo, either. The whole paragraph seems to have been written by an inebriated chimpanzee. Wait. Could that be your explanation? Yeah, yeah, I know. Gutless.
DV2
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 10:10 AMThis really fails to impress at all, at that weight this car is more comparable to a motorbike than a normal car.
A $13,500 (new) motorbike can reach 300KM/h with ease.
EckyThump
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 10:27 AMYou’re missing the point! Petrol cars in this class weight are at there limit! Electric is in it’s infancy, and it has a lot more room for improvement,… a lot more room!! #]
maddogeco
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 12:28 PMAnd dont forget salt lakes are a very slow surface compared to a black top road