Founded in 2006 by students of ETH Zurich, the Academic Motorsports Club Zurich (AMZ) has produced a number of prototypes to compete in various Formula Student events in Europe.
Since 2010, after building three combustion engine-powered cars, the association started developing electric prototypes. Their latest one just broke the Guinness world record for fastest accelerating electric vehicles with a 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) time of 1.513 seconds – the previous record was held by an electric racecar of the University of Stuttgart, with a time of 1.779 seconds.
The new record was set at the military airfield in Dübendorf, where the vehicle needed less than 30 meters (98 feet) to reach a speed of 60 mph (97 km/h). Not surprisingly, as the car’s 172kg (379 lbs) weight and 216hp power output form an eye-watering power-to-weight ratio of 1.26hp/kg.
Several industry experts monitored the record attempts to ensure rules compliance with the official Guinness regulations, while the car – nicknamed ‘grimsel’ – accelerated from standstill on a 120-meter-long marked track.
In order to eliminate the influence of a potential slope of the track, the acceleration times were calculated as mean values of two consecutive runs. AMZ says that by the first attempt, the old record was already beaten. But after fine tuning the enhanced traction control software a little more, the car (equipped with optimum track and tire temperatures), has achieved the desired outcome.
You can see everything unfold in the videos down below, but we would advise you not to blink while watching the last one.