Electric racer goes 0 to 60 mph in 1.5 seconds, built by students

A group of Swiss students have built an electric car that can out accelerate even the quickest supercars.

The tiny electric car reached 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) from a standstill in just 1.513 seconds during a run at Dübendorf Air Base, near Zurich.

It required only 100 feet to reach that speed.

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Known as "Grimsel," the car was built by students from the Swiss universities ETH Zurich and Hochschule Luzern, who members of Academic Motorsports club Zurich (AMZ).

The car weighs just 370 pounds, thanks to extensive use of carbon fiber.

It's powered by four 37-kilowatt (50-horsepower) in-wheel electric motors, and boasts a combined output of 1,250 pound-feet of torque at the wheels, according to AMZ.

Custom traction-control and torque-vectoring systems help put all of that power to the ground efficiently.

The car also features an aggressive aerodynamics package—including a massive rear spoiler—that engineers calculate would allow it to drive upside down at 110 kph (68 mph).

Grimsel doesn't spend much time driving on ceilings, though.

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It was built for Formula Student, an international competition for engineering students with events in various countries around the world.

Cars are judged based on performance, but also design, cost, and a business plan for marketing them to hypothetical investors.

The AMZ team beat the previous 0-to-62 mph record of 1.779 seconds, set by the Green Team from Germany's University of Stuttgart in July 2015.

Like Grimsel, the Green Team car was a small single-seat, open-wheel electric car with all-wheel drive.

Thanks to instantly-available torque, electric cars are well suited to contests of acceleration.

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Electric drag racer has claimed to have achieved 0 to 60 mph in 1.8 seconds with his "White Zombie"—a heavily-modified 1972 Datsun 1200.

Wayland also participated in the build of an electric 1968 Ford Mustang called Zombie 222, which record 0 to 60 mph in 1.94 seconds last year.

Vintage cars and tiny student-built race cars typically aren't thought of as being in the same league as supercars, but throw in some electric motors, and it seems anything is possible.

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Source: Electric racer goes 0 to 60 mph in 1.5 seconds, built by students