Zeekr 001 breaks world record for fastest EV drift
Not stopping there, the Chinese EV then claimed the record for world’s fastest EV slalomThe Guinness World Record for the fastest electric vehicle drift is now officially held by the Chinese Geely Group after its Zeekr 001 smoked up its rear tyres and went sideways – in a controlled manner – at 207.996km/h.
The 400kW dual-motor, all-wheel drive SUV – which carsales drove in China earlier this year – then backed up the feat by laying down a 49.05sec slalom time without touching any of the 50 cones marking the course, which was enough to claim its second Guinness World Record.
Both records were broken at the CATARC proving ground, north of Shanghai, earlier this month under the supervision of a Guinness World Records adjudicator.
A Zeekr spokesperson said the achievements “have fully verified the three core strengths that underpin the 001; it is fast, accurate and stable”.
“The fastest electric vehicle drift requires the vehicle to achieve greater than 160km/h and the 001 was able to achieve a maximum speed of 207.996km/h,” the spokesperson said.
“Adhering to the concept of ‘don’t be a boring electric car’ to develop a pure-electric high-performance experience, the 001 also has an excellent driving comfort experience under the powerful power and extreme control fun.”
Underpinned by the Geely Group’s SEA platform, the Zeekr 001 is expected to launch in Europe by the end of the year as a direct competitor for the Tesla Model Y, but there are no concrete plans for an Australian tilt at this stage.
The company has, however, made it clear that the Zeekr 001 was developed as a global model.
It now seems Chinese electric car-makers are determined to use Guinness World Records to prove the worth of their EVs – and draw plenty of attention in the process – as Geely’s achievements follow the record for the longest drift in an EV on a wet surface set by Zhiji Motors earlier this year.
The Zhiji L7 was drifted for one hour and six minutes, with the driver clocking up 258 laps of the track – equivalent to 43.646km.
That broke the previous record held by the Porsche Taycan (55 minutes, 42.171km).
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