Record with an electric car: 0-100 in under one second

The “Academic Motorsport Association Zurich” (AMZ) meets at ETH Zurich. This group of students has now set a new Guinness World Record with a time of 0.965 s from 0 to 100 km/h with their electric prototype “Mythen”. That means: 100 km/h is reached after 12.3 m. The previous record came from Stuttgart and was 1.461 seconds. For anyone interested in physics, the question is obvious: How does it work?

Advertisement

The basics are clear: a lot of power requires little weight to accelerate. The AMZ uses four wheel hub motors for a total of 240 kW of power. The car weighs 140 kg, with the light driver the total weight is around 180 kg. Soft slicks with tire warmers, all-wheel drive, and still: That alone couldn’t accelerate as much because the contact pressure on the tires isn’t enough. You would spin or the traction control would have to reduce the power. Even the huge wings of the team’s previous record-breaking vehicles are missing. There is a trick.

Like the “sucker car” Chaparall 2J from 1970 and the F1 car Brabham BT46B derived from it, the “myth” racer also uses a fan to press the car to the ground. Weight plus contact pressure results in around 380 kg on the four slicks, which can then mesh with the asphalt from the start in order to achieve the amazing time. “It was our goal not to just beat the previous time a little, but to do it properly,” says Dario Messerli, who is responsible for aerodynamics.

Image 1 of 3

The motorsport team from Zurich has had a lot of fun dueling with their colleagues from Stuttgart for new best times over the years.
(Image: Alessandro Della Bella / ETH Zurich)

The study team developed or adapted all components of the vehicle, from the CFRP chassis to the circuit boards. “Working on the project parallel to my studies was very intensive. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun to constantly find new solutions with my colleagues and to put into practice what I had learned theoretically during my studies. And of course it is an absolutely unique experience “To be involved in a world record,” says Yann Bernard, responsible for the engines.

(cgl)

To the home page
#Record #electric #car