UK's Fastest Electric Car

The Nemesis is the name of a battery-powered car that can break the record for the fastest electric car in the UK. The Nemesis, a Lotus Exige modified by utility company Ecotricity, reached an average speed of 239 km/h near York.

It was driven by 21-year-old Nick Ponting, who started racing go-karts at the age of 12, and first broke the record by hitting 238.8 km/h earlier at Elvington airfield in North Yorkshire on Thursday (September 27, 2012).

Ecotricity said its sexy Nemesis car is entirely built in the United Kingdom. The electric vehicle, rebuilt from the ground up from a former secondhand Lotus Exige bought off of eBay, was fitted with a cluster of 96 lithium-ion polymer cells, two brushless motors and a completely new transmission.

It was designed and built by a team of British motorsport engineers who between them have worked with companies like McLaren, Williams and Lotus, and who have built Formula One and Le Mans racing cars.

The Nemesis is a modified Lotus Exige bought off from eBay. (Picture from: http://www.evworld.com/)

And less than 18 months after work started, the car - which can be charged in less than 30 minutes for normal use and just an hour for this type of racing - eclipsed the old record.

The Cockpit view of Nemesis electric car. (Picture from: http://www.evo.co.uk/)

The 3.81m long Nemesis has a 0-62.14km/h speed of 8.5 seconds and runs on green electricity generated by Ecotricity’s network of 53 wind turbines around the UK.

The engine section of Nemesis electric car. (Picture from: http://www.evo.co.uk/)

Ecotricity is working on an ’electric highway’, which aims to have a station on every motorway to charge electric cars.

Dale Vince, the founder of Ecotricity, said the company had built the Nemesis to "stimulate thought and debate about how we'll be getting around when the world runs out of oil. And what we've been able to demonstrate is that wind-powered cars are not just feasible, but can be a load of fun."

He added, "We’ve also developed fast chargers which only take 20 minutes to charge a car - many people think they’d be waiting around for ages to charge their car but we want to show that it’s easy, quick and practical. Another myth is that you can’t go far. So we’re planning to drive from Land’s End to John O’Groats next year in 12 hours to smash that."

Racing driver Nick Ponting wilth Dale Vince of Ecotricity, moments before the attempt at Elvington airfield in Yorkshire. (Picture from: http://uncle-philip.xanga.com/)

Previously record of fastest electric car in the UK held by Don Wales who raced up to 220 km/h with Bluebird Electric in 2000. Wales attempted to break his own record in August 2011 but failed after the car hit a pothole on a beach in Wales. *** [GI | BBC | THE GUARDIAN | THE SUN | PIKIRAN RAKYAT 05102012]
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