Students successful in electric car world record attempt

A team of UNSW students has broken a 26-year-old world speed record*, potentially establishing their Sunswift car as the fastest electric vehicle over adistance of 500 kilometres, on a single battery charge. The world record was broken this afternoon by the team at a racetrack in Geelong, Victoria. The car achieved an average speed of more than 100 km/h during the attempt, bettering the previous world record of 73km/h. However, no definitive numbers can be issued until the record is officially approved by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), world motorsport's governing body. The last time an FIA world record was set in Australia was in April 1984 in a production based petrol engine sedan. Further to this the most recent Australian record was set in March 1994 by Rosco McGlashan in a jet powered vehicle, according to the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, who supervised the attempt.

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