Electric racer blasts into record books

If you thought the Bugatti Veyron, Ariel Atom or even the Telsa Model S were sprinters par excellence, get a load of this thing.

Although it doesn't technically have a name, a 147kW electric race car built by students from the Lucerne and Zurich ETH universities has just blitzed to 100km/h in a rapid 1.513 seconds.

That makes it the quickest ever EV, besting the previous record of 1.779 seconds (also set by an e-racer).

Making a mockery of the 'ludicrous' mode-equipped Tesla Model S, the European electric dragster is twice as quick to 100km/h as the lauded US production car, thanks to a kerb weight of just 168kg and a quartet of electric motors – one housed within each wheel.

Built by youngsters for the Formula Student Germany competition, which is sponsored by BMW, the AWD vehicle was tested on a military airbase outside of Zurich, Switzerland.

The EV racer needed less than 30 metres to reach 100km/h -- an astonishing feat and one that would have generated massive g-force on the driver.

It will compete in the Formula Student event at the Hockenheimring in Germany in August, when more than 115 teams spanning almost 30 nations will duke it out to see which vehicle is the best.

And it's not just acceleration that will win the trophy here. Teams must deliver a low-cost, cleverly-designed vehicle accompanied by a full business model to take first prize, as judged by a jury comprising industry and commerce doyens.

Formula Student has been running since 2006 and one of its major backers in is BMW, which has a mentor program to help entrants in the competition.

Australia also has an electric race car competition, with EVs up to 80kW eligible to take part alongside 600cc internal combustion racers in Formula SAE-A, a four-day international student engineering contest, entries for which this year close on July 22.