Automotive

The world's fastest electric production car is neither a Tesla nor a Taycan

The world's fastest electric production car is neither a Tesla nor a Taycan
The Genovation GXE has broken its own production electric speed record with a 210.2 mph pass
The Genovation GXE has broken its own production electric speed record with a 210.2 mph pass
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The Genovation GXE has broken its own production electric speed record with a 210.2 mph pass
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The Genovation GXE has broken its own production electric speed record with a 210.2 mph pass
What a beautiful shot of this 800-horse electric beast.
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What a beautiful shot of this 800-horse electric beast.

In all this Tesla vs. Taycan business that's been making headlines lately, it's easy to forget who is actually making the world's fastest production electric street car.

Well, when we say making, they're promising to make it, with deliveries "scheduled in early 2020." We speak, of course, of Maryland's Genovation and its GXE – effectively an all-'murican ZR1 Corvette that's been gutted and converted into an 800-horsepower, 718 lb-ft (973 Nm) electric beast with a theoretical top speed of 220 mph (354 km/h).

And now it's been proven to do at least 210.2 mph (338.3 km/h). In an "aerodynamics test" supervised by the International Mile Racing Association, driver Johnny Bohmer broke Genovation's own existing record to solidify its claim as the fastest electric car going around. It didn't appear to be a proper two-way speed run, so that'll no doubt leave conversations to be had on web forums.

What a beautiful shot of this 800-horse electric beast.
What a beautiful shot of this 800-horse electric beast.

The Genovation's top speed supremacy may be partially to do with the team's interesting choice of leaving the gearbox in. The GXE can be specified with a dual-clutch 8-speed paddle-shift transmission, or even a 7-speed manual, which makes it a rarity in the electric world.

It's a car for a good time, not for a long time, with a 175-mile (281 km) range that pales in comparison to what Porsche and Tesla are doing, and one might indeed question the "production" credentials of something that will only sell a maximum of 75 bespoke units.

But it's out there, and it's gone faster than any of the others, and this may well remain the case until Mate Rimac harnesses all 1,914 horsepower of his C_Two "megacar" and points them down a runway of his own.

There's a video of the speed record below, if you like watching quiet vehicles go in a straight line.

Genovation GXE Breaks World Speed Record

Source: Genovation

10 comments
10 comments
buzzclick
Pity that. I wanted to hear what 210mph sounds like in an electric job. Lots of road noise and whining I guess. No cylinders screaming, camshafts and crankshafts whirring. No carburetors breathing heavy while turbos are forcing fuel and air down their throats. Nothing but pure electric road noise. OK, I'll stop whining. owlbeyou
neoneuron
175 mile range?? HA HA!! Tesla model S and X get 325 and 375.
https://www.tesla.com/blog/longest-range-electric-vehicle-now-goes-even-farther
If the Tesla is slower I couldn't care less.. If you go over 100 mph.. YOU go to jail!!!.
Username
I really don't see how this classifies as a production car.
McDesign
@buzzclick - I have electric exhaust cutouts on my V12 Mercedes JUST SO I can pull up beside the common Teslas here in Atlanta, just so they can hear what they're missing - I don't think I can post a YT link.
Evan Fusco
This thing isn't production...it's not even being built yet...and even if it was, it's a conversion, not a production vehicle. Might as well advertise the White Zombie which really is fast...but it's just as production as this thing.
mediabeing
It would have been nice to hear the car, but no, we have to listen to music instead. Not cool.
Thud
Funny, they just couldn't resist inserting the revving sound of an ICE engine at the beginning of the run.
vince
The world's fastest electric vehicle is not even a car. It's the motorcycle made by LIGHTING with i'ts LS218 which made a 218.4 mph run to prove it's the fastest.
guzmanchinky
YAWN.
Unless it's a full production car that goes 300 miles and does 0-60 in under 2 seconds it's just not interesting anymore. No one cares about 200+mph, no one, and I mean no one, will ever hit those speeds. The real fun is 0-60 or 50-150 in Germany...
Grunchy
This reminds me of the time when David Freiburger went to Australia to drive his friend’s Camaro at 200+ mph, but before he did that, he had to take a 10 hr flight at 500+ mph.
It’s like: oh yeah, very impressive!