A group of Swiss students unraveled a new electric racing car that is capable of hitting a new speed record for battery-powered vehicles.
The car did achieve a new record in car speeds arena. It bolted from zero to 100 kilos per hour in only 1.513 seconds, which is a quarter of a second less than the previous record time. The record was made on a race track near Zurich in Dubendorf air base.
This is absolutely a new record to be registered in the world of electric automotive. Until the moment, no vehicle has been able to exceed this speed rate.
The recently made electric car, named ‘the grimsel’ after an Alpine pass, achieved the 100 km speed mark in only 30 meters (98 feet).
The old record
The grimsel slashed the previously-top world record made by team of students from the University of Stuttgart. The record was achieved last year, their electric car made it in 1.779 seconds.
It’s worth mentioning that the world fastest production electric vehicle is the Porsche 918 Spyder.
Spyder is a hybrid car with a gasoline-electric engine, it dashes from stillness to 100 kph in only 2.2 seconds.
The 918 was really a unique car, it was capable of producing 887 horsepower managed by a V-8 4.6 liter engine. Unfortunately, the car production line was put to stall in 2015 for unknown reasons. Actually it’s dearly missed.
The Grimsel
A group consisted of 30 students studying in ETH Zurich – a top engineering, science, technology, and management university in Switzerland – and Lucerne’s University of Applied Sciences and Arts worked on building and refining this machine.
The university issued a statement following the drive success saying that the four-wheel drive system adopted in the vehicle was the key of success.
Each wheel has a powerful motor mounted on it, moreover, the car has an advanced traction control system to maximize its torque and improve its performance.
These technologies and improvements were, according to the statement, the reason behind the Grimsel’s swift acceleration.
Car details
The car weighs only 168 kg (370 lb). Its light weight goes back to the use of carbon fiber in its creation.
It’s worth mentioning that the car isn’t specifically made for experiment, but it has been extensively used in the Formula Student race competition.
Future prospects
The Grimsel car bombshell drew all car lovers’ attention in every place around the world. If this tiny little electric car made by a group of students in a university lab could reach 100 kph in less than 2 seconds, then we can absolutely see a lot more from a well-produced hybrid car made by any of the world’s top car makers.
Despite the current changes as many companies are getting more interested in battery-powered vehicles, it’s still very hard to forecast its share of automotive market after 10 or 20 years from now.
Still more tests, improvements, and studies needed to be made to drive more customers into the hybrid cars field.