Thursday, September 27, 2012

British electric supercar breaks land speed record


The first electric super car, the ‘Nemesis’, designed and built entirely in the UK, has today broken the UK electric car land-speed record, reaching a verified speed of 148 mph.

Nemesis is a battery-powered electric sports car developed by renewable energy company Ecotricity's MD Dale Vince.

As it sped up the runway at Elvington Airfield near York, it made no sound at all apart from wind resistance and tyre noise.

The previous record of 137mph was set by Don Wales, the grandson of legendary speed-merchant Sir Malcolm Campbell.

It was driven by estate agent Nick Ponting, 21, from Gloucester, who attained an average speed of 148.419mph during two runs along the mile-long course.

He said the torque was amazing, giving excellent acceleration response right up to top speed.

Further attempts are being made today, and Dale Vince is convinced that the 150 mile an hour barrier will be broken.

"It was quite straightforward. We're putting a bit of juice back in the batteries and we're going to go again. We built the Nemesis to smash the stereotype of electric cars as something Noddy would drive - slow, boring, not cool," he said.

Joe Wales, son of Don, attempted to beat his father's record in a car named Bluebird Electric at Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire last year, but failed when its suspension was damaged by a pothole.

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