A few months after setting an electric vehicle lap record at the Nurburgring, the NextEV NIO EP9 has become the fastest self-driving vehicle to ever lap the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Texas.
What’s more, the EP9 also lapped the circuit faster than any other production car when a driver jumped behind the wheel.
To showcase its advanced autonomous technologies, NIO sent the EP9 around the Formula One circuit in just 2 minutes and 40.33 seconds where a 160 mph (257 km/h) top speed was reached along the straight. When a professional driver took control, he set a lap time of 2 min 11.30 sec and reached 170 mph (273 km/h).
Aiding in these impressive lap times is the vehicle’s incredible powertrain. It utilizes four high-performance inboard motors and four individual gearboxes to deliver a total of 1360 PS (1,342 hp), equivalent to one megawatt of power. This allows the EP9 to accelerate from a standstill to 124 mph (200 km/h) in a mere 7.1 seconds and onto a 194 mph (312 km/h) top speed.
Discussing the car and its performance, NIO chief executive Padmasree Warrior said:
“At NIO, we are all about raising the bar for the entire automotive industry. Breaking records with the NIO EP9 demonstrates our automotive and technology expertise to be a leader in the global market. Our Silicon Valley team brings together the best talent from automotive and software domains, which helped us achieve this remarkable result in an incredibly short time. Our goal is to be the best next generation car company, by delivering autonomous vehicles with amazing experiences for people all over the world.”
NIO has yet to announce when the first customer deliveries of the EP9 will commence.
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