A tiny British electric vehicle built in the 1970s is now officially the world’s fastest street-legal EV.
The highly modified Enfield 8000, owned by motoring journalist Jonny Smith, stormed through the quarter-mile sprint at Santa Pod this weekend in a record-smashing 9,86 seconds at an average speed of 194,7 km/h.
Originally boasting a meagre 6 kW, Smith’s two-seater (dubbed the Flux Capacitor) currently packs in the region of 600 kW and more than 1 600 N.m. And that makes it quicker than the Tesla Model S P90D…
Smith snatched the world record, which previously stood at 10,25 seconds, from the car that inspired him in the first place – a Datsun converted to electric and owned by John Wayland from Portland, Oregon.
Despite reaching 160 km/h in less than six seconds and only being 2,8 metres long, the Enfield is still road legal (and London congestion charge exempt). Being road legal means the car has to run treaded tyres and not feature wheelie bars.
“I’m in awe of what this little yellow thing can cope with,” said Smith, who has presented Fifth Gear since 2006.
“Despite so many racers telling me that a 68-inch wheelbase car could never safely go as fast as we wanted, the Enfield has proved them wrong.
“Originally the car was designed to drive up to speeds of [65 km/h]. Now it triples the speed within quarter of a mile without any aerodynamic alterations – which is testament to the original design,” he added.
Smith described his creation as a David capable of beating Goliath.
“The car never feels like it is out of its comfort zone. To be honest, I have disconnected the speedo, and just drive it by feel. You quickly forget how small it is when the lights go green. The instant electric torque delivery is something I have never experienced in over 15 years of driving and testing sports cars.
“I set out to build a British electric hot rod. I hope I’ve achieved something left-field enough to prove that David certainly can beat Goliath.”
Smith rescued the Enfield, then a flood-damaged write-off, some four years back, and restored the car before adding 21st century electric technology.
The vehicle is powered by 188 lithium-ion battery cells built into enclosures under the bonnet and boot, generating 2000 amps and 400 volts to a pair of DC nine-inch motors that drive the back wheels.
Watch the record being broken in the video below (the second run in the footage)…
