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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Racing

Michelin Drayson Electric Speed Record

A 39-year-old FIA World Electric Land Speed Record has fallen to a sleek, green electric machine called the Lola. Officially the Drayson B12 69/EV electric Le Mans Prototype, the 1000-kilogram (2,204-pound) race car hit a top speed of 204.185 miles per hour yesterday at RAF Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire, England. That’s over 29 mph faster than the previous record of 175 mph that was set in 1974 by Battery Box General Electric.

“I’m delighted we’ve beaten the record tonight and can show the world EVs can be fast and reliable.”

Completing two runs down the three-kilometer track, Lord Paul Drayson piloted the finely tuned, 850-horsepower EV to the record-setting run. Afterwards, the proud driver said, “I’m delighted we’ve beaten the record tonight and can show the world EVs can be fast and reliable. It is not the outright speed of 204.185mph that is most impressive about this record, but the engineering challenge of accelerating a 1000kg electric vehicle on a short runway over a measured mile.” The car has a 30-kWh battery and ran on confidential-specification LM P1 Michelin tires. You can see a video of the run below.

Of course, there are records and then there are records. The Ohio State University Buckeye Bullet, for example, is an EV that has topped 300 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. But, according to the FIA, Drayson is now the team to beat. We have to assume that someone will try to snag the title before another four decades are up. Nissan, perhaps?

Continue reading Drayson Racing EV hits 204.185 mph, sets new FIA world land speed record

Drayson Racing EV hits 204.185 mph, sets new FIA world land speed record originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 26 Jun 2013 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Performance, Europe, Paris Motor Show, Hatchback, Audi

2011 Audi A1 1.4 TFSI

2011 Audi A1 1.4 TFSI – Click above for high-res image gallery

As if we needed another reason to salivate over the delicious little Audi A1. The Four Ring’d One has just announced that it will pull the sheets off of a new, hopped-up version of its tiniest hatch at this year’s Paris Motor Show. Here’s the important part: under the hood, there’s a 185-horsepower dual-charged 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine with 185 lb-ft of torque. That’s right, this machine makes use of both a supercharger and a turbocharger, and as a result, Audi says that its new A1 1.4 TFSI can scoot to 60 mph in a quick 6.9 seconds.

By way of salting the wound even further, Audi says that the meanest of the A1 breed returns around 40 mpg U.S., effectively making the Honda CR-Z look both lethargic and overtly wasteful. A seven-speed DSG gearbox handles shifting duties and likely helps with that massive fuel economy number. Quattro all-wheel drive is still not available, however.

European buyers can expect to see the brawny A1 by the end of this year, where it will carry a price tag of around $31,500 at current conversion rates (though the included EU taxes inflate that figure somewhat). As usual, we won’t see it on our shores. Hit the jump to take a look at the press release and the high-res gallery below if you’re a glutton for punishment.

Gallery: 2011 Audi A1

[Source: Audi]

Continue reading Don’t Call It S1: Audi shows off 185-hp A1 ahead of Paris debut

Don’t Call It S1: Audi shows off 185-hp A1 ahead of Paris debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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