Lord Drayson, the former Cabinet Minister, will attempt to break a world record that has been in place for over 40 years.
The attempt will take place on June 25th at Elvington airfield, Yorkshire.
If the B12 69/EV reaches the target speed of 200mph, this will shatter the existing world record, which has stood for over 40 years.
The current record was set by Battery Box General Electric in 1974, when their electric vehicle reached 175mph.
Commenting on the world record attempt, Lord Drayson said:
“It’s a tremendous technical challenge but we believe it’s about time someone moved this record on to demonstrate just how far EV technology has come, and that Britain is at the forefront of this vital technology, which I believe represents the future of the automobile.”
The most challenging aspect of the record attempt is getting a vehicle that weighs under 1000kg. The car also has to reach the speed of 200mph on a 1.86 mile runway. The record will be measured over 1 mile, so this leaves only 0.86 miles to accelerate and break either end of the measured mile.
Lord Drayson is the CEO and founder of Drayson Racing Technologies, a company that specialises in the research and development of sustainable technologies in the racing world. Lord Drayson himself competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 2009 and 2010.
The current land speed record for any vehicle was set in 1997, when British driver Andy Green reached the incredible speed of 763mph: the first time a land vehicle had broken the speed of sound.
The ThurstSSC weighed 10.5 tonnes and had a power output of 110,000 BHP
The ThurstSSC was powered by two afterburning Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines, more commonly found in jet fighters than land vehicles. The chances of an electric vehicle reaching this speed are almost impossible, but Lord Drayson is keen to demonstrate the potential that electric vehicles have.
“We want to showcase the maximum level of EV performance at the moment - in a real racing car rather than a teardrop-shaped land speed record car.”