I keep in mind when a zero to 60 mph time of round 2.5 seconds appeared as fast as humanly potential. However then electrical automobiles with their prompt torque got here alongside and started exhibiting off their blisteringly fast acceleration. Now, an EV has managed to speed up as much as 62 mph in below a second.

The automobile in query is a single-seat racer developed by college students at the ETH Zürich college and the Lucerne College of Utilized Sciences and Arts in Switzerland. Referred to as Mayhem, the automobile includes elements that have been all developed by college students on the two establishments.

The chassis and bodywork are produced from a mix of carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb, that means it weighs simply 309 kilos. Beneath all these panels is a set of 4 wheel-hub motors, which have been developed by the scholars themselves. In complete, these kick out a formidable 326 hp.

All because of this the automobile accelerates quick. Actually quick. In its record-breaking run, Mayhem accelerated from zero to 62 mph in simply 0.956 seconds. With driver Kate Maggetti on the wheel, the automobile managed this feat over a distance of simply 12.3 meters, which is about 40 ft.

If you happen to can’t fairly wrap your head round what that acceleration is like, there’s a video of the document breaking run out there to observe above. However for some context, this speedy acceleration is quicker than a Method 1 automobile, which manages the feat in about 2.6 seconds, and NASA’s area shuttle, which took a leisurely 5 seconds to achieve 60 mph.

In a video of the document try shared by the college, Maggetti stated that you just “actually discover that your coronary heart is pounding away” within the buildup to the try. However, she added that after you “see it by,” it’s like “being on a rollercoaster with a very, actually quick begin.”

The speedy run from the ETH Zürich beat the outdated acceleration document by greater than a 3rd. In September 2022, a staff from the College of Stuttgart set the acceleration benchmark at 1.461 seconds. Now, the ETH Zürich will take some beating.