German students retake title of fastest accelerating electric car

Electrification has created a new horsepower war, where automakers continuously look to outdo one another with the quickest, most powerful EVs on the streets. The latest electric models deliver unbelievably quick acceleration and stunning spec sheets, but a group of German college students just shamed all of them. With a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) time of 1.461 seconds, the students’ electric car delivers 1,750 horsepower per ton and peak acceleration forces that reach 2.5G.

The 20-member GreenTeam from the University of Stuttgart recently set the record for the fastest-accelerating electric vehicle, bringing the title back to Germany after teams from the Netherlands and Switzerland held the record at various points over the past few years. Those teams’ times were nothing to sneeze at, but the Germans’ 0-100 km/h time bested the previous record by almost a tenth of a second.

GreenTeam’s car is built from carbon and weighs under 145 kilograms (319 pounds). Its electric powertrain generates 180 kilowatts (241 horsepower), and the car runs four-wheel drive, so it’s no wonder it accelerates like a Saturn rocket leaving the launchpad. The team revised the car’s battery pack in preparation for the run.

The team’s record-setting run came after a previous attempt ended in failure. In July, a driver crashed the car during a test run, skidding into a stack of tires. They repaired the car, but technical issues forced another delay the evening before the new record attempt. Three weeks later, GreenTeam finally took its shot, breaking the record on September 23.