The long-standing world speed record for an electric vehicle has been broken by a group of Australian students from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

For over 26 years the record speed for an electric car (averaged over a distance of 500km) was 73km/h.

The new record is still pending confirmation from the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile), but if it is confirmed it will be the first time that an FIA world record has been set in Australia since 1984.While attempting to challenge the record on the Australian Automotive Research Centre’s 4.2 km circular track in Victoria, the University team’s Sunswift car averaged over 100 km/h for the same distance.

The electric car that set the new record – Sunswift eVe – is the fifth incarnation of the Sunswift car. Previous Sunswift models have set the Guinness World Record for the fastest solar-powered car in 2011 (Sunswift IVy), along with the world record for the fastest solar-powered road trip from Perth to Sydney in 2007 (Jaycar Sunswift III).

According to the UNSW Sunswift team, the eVe has a top speed of 140 km/h with a maximum range of 800km. Its 60kg battery is charged via 800 watt solar panels on its roof and hood, however the panels were not used for the record attempt – FIA rules state that the vehicle must travel the testing distance on one full battery charge.

UNSW says the team believes its record-breaking drive illustrates that the car is ready for practical use.

“This record was about establishing a whole new level of single-charge travel for high-speed electric vehicles, which we hope will revolutionize the electric car industry,” says Hayden Smith, Project Director and engineering student. “Five hundred kilometers is pretty much as far as a normal person would want to drive in a single day. It’s another demonstration that one day you could be driving our car.”

The team hopes that the car will meet Australian road registration requirements within a year, meaning we could see an incarnation of the record-breaking Sunswift on our roads in the not too distant future.

Source: University of New South Wales (Photos: Sunswift / Daniel Chen)