Automotive

0-100 km/h in less than a second: Swiss EV team destroys world record

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Team AMZ has absolutely smashed the world EV acceleration record, reaching 100 km/h in less than one second
Alessandro Della Bella/ETH Zurich
Team AMZ has absolutely smashed the world EV acceleration record, reaching 100 km/h in less than one second
Alessandro Della Bella/ETH Zurich
Driver Kate Maggetti hit the gas and held on, as the car's vacuum system sucked it to the ground, greatly increasing traction
Alessandro Della Bella/ETH Zurich
The Academic Motorsports Club Zurich (AMZ) team has been setting world records with these crazy-quick EVs since 2014
Alessandro Della Bella/ETH Zurich
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A Swiss student team has absolutely smashed the record for the world's fastest-accelerating EV. Surreal-looking video shows driver Kate Maggetti rocketing from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in a staggering time just under one second. Here's how they did it.

The Academic Motorsports Club Zurich (AMZ), comprising students from ETH Zurich and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, has been building these record-breaking EV racers for many years now outside school hours. Indeed, team AMZ took its first world acceleration record back in 2014, and again in 2016.

Since then, a competing team from the University of Stuttgart has had a stranglehold on the record, which has inched its way down from the 1.7-second zone to sit at 1.461 seconds since September 2022.

So when we say the AMZ team smashed the record, we're talking about chopping more than a third off the time. An extraordinary leap.

The Academic Motorsports Club Zurich (AMZ) team has been setting world records with these crazy-quick EVs since 2014
Alessandro Della Bella/ETH Zurich

How? Well, it's not by adding thousands of horsepower or dropping enormous amounts of weight – this little go-kart of a thing weighs in at 140 kg (309 lb) and needs only 240 kW (326 hp) through its four hub motors to get the job done. Granted, that's a driverless power-to-weight ratio of more than 2.3 horsepower per kilogram (2.2 lb), so you'd expect it to party rather hearty.

But of course, traction is the key here. No amount of power is helpful if you can't get it to the ground, and that's where the AMZ team has made a rather rude upgrade. Much like the McMurtry Spierling, and the Gordon Murray T.50, the AMZ car, named Mythen, uses a vacuum fan system that sucks the car to the ground, creating considerable downforce even at a standstill and jamming the tires into the tarmac for superior grip.

Driver Kate Maggetti hit the gas and held on, as the car's vacuum system sucked it to the ground, greatly increasing traction
Alessandro Della Bella/ETH Zurich

As a result, Maggetti recorded a blistering 0.956-second sprint from 0-100 km/h, seeing triple figures on the dash just 12.3 meters (40.3 ft) from the starting line. These figures have been certified by Guinness, and the team doesn't expect that record to fall any time soon. Mind you, I'm sure they've got vacuum fans over in Stuttgart ...

"You do feel a few nerves," said Maggetti. "It's probably also to do with respect. You really notice your heart pounding away. But you've just got to do it, and see it through. Then everything's better again. And then it's fun, too – it's like being on a roller coaster with a really fast start. You feel the tension, and a kick."

Some kick alright! Anyone who's dropped the hammer in a quick Tesla knows how crazy a 2.3-second time feels – the idea of accelerating more than twice as fast is absolutely bonkers. Maggetti would've experienced a hair under 3 g of acceleration forces pushing her back into the seat during the record run. Check out the video below, it's nuts.

Source: ETH Zurich

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8 comments
vince
Now go after quarter mile record. Kudos.
Ric
It would have been great to have a longer view for the footage. It happens so fast and feels kind of like the film is sped up with the shaking. A shot from further away, with more references, might have made the acceleration more comprehensible..
warmer
That is over 28Gs she is experiencing HOLYBALLZ
Captain Obvious
28G? I think you're missing a decimal point.
DavidB
@Captain Obvious is correct, @warmer: As the article explicitly states, “Maggetti would've experienced a hair under 3 g of acceleration…”
MQ
Very impressive out of a tiny package (small drivers help too), one must work with the physics one has.
Lets make that time for 100 mph and it will turn heads, then carry on for the whole 1320ft (maybe it needs a longer chassis)
vince
Same idea as using magnets to suckbdown a vehicle with thousands of pounds of downforce making rollovers impossible. Slot cars have been using that method for 50 years snd it allows slot cars to accelerate from 0 to 1200 scale mph in under a half a second.

But for vacuum cars you have make sure not debris on roadway or ugh it could get messy sucking up metallic parts into a super strong vacuum system.
ljaques
That's one trick go-cart! I wonder what it can do without the Hoover turned on...