Drayson Racing Technologies Aiming for EV Speed Record

Drayson Racing Technologies will attempt to set the World Electric Land Speed on June 25 on a 1.86-mile runway at an RAF base in Yorkshire, England. They are using a specially built Lola B12/69 chassis, which is a modified Lola B12/60Lola B12/60 CoupeUnited Kingdom, 2011 > present2 photos
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LMP1 ca , with a proprietary electric motor from Drayson Racing. Lord Drayson will be driving the car in the record attempt. The current record of 175mph (281.6km/h) was set in the US in 1974.

“It is not the outright speed that is impressive about this record attempt, but the engineering challenge of accelerating a 1000kg electric vehicle to such a high speed and sustaining that speed over a measured mile, before stopping safely all within a relatively short distance then turning round and doing it again within an hour," said Lord Drayson.

Drayson Racing Technologies has been developing the B12/69 chassis since 2011 when it raced with a bio-fueled Judd V10. Since then, the engine has been replaced with an electric motor. For the land speed record run, the car will run with as little downforce as feasible with maximum acceleration.

The electric motor is rated at 600hp with two electric motors in each rear wheel powered by a 20kWh battery. The motors can vector power to either side as a means of torque vectoring traction control. It regenerates power from the brakes and the movement of the suspension.