The world’s fastest-accelerating EV wasn’t built by Rimac or Tesla: It was made by a group of college students.
Academic Motorsports Club Zurich (AMZ), which consists of science students from ETH Zurich and Lucerne University, has designed a battery-powered single-seater called the Mythen that can accelerate from zero to 62 mph in under a second. The record-smashing time, which easily beat the previous mark, has even been certified by Guinness World Records.
The record was set at the Switzerland Innovation Park in Duebendorf. During the run, the Mythen, which was driven by Kate Maggetti, launched from a standing start to 62 mph (or 100 kmph) in just 0.956 seconds, taking just 40 feet to accomplish the feat, according to ETH Zurich. The time easily broke the previous student record of 1.461 seconds, which was set by another EV designed by a team from the University of Stuttgart last September. It also marks the third time now that the record has been set by the AMZ team.
The Academic Motorsports Club Zurich team and the Mythen
ETH Zurich
Because AMZ wanted its record back, the Mythen was designed, engineered, and built with the express purpose of setting a new acceleration record. Helping it do so are four wheel hub motors that combine to output 326 hp. Additionally, the entire vehicle, including its chassis, motors, and battery, weighs just 308 pounds. That gives the vehicle a ridiculous 0.94 lb/hp weight-to-weight ratio that not even a lightweight hypercar like the Bugatti Bolide can match.
The AMZ team didn’t just beat their counterparts at the University of Stuttgart, though. They can also take pride in creating an EV that accelerates faster than any built by more established (and exponentially better-funded) automakers. The Mythen can reach 62 mph nearly a half-second quicker than the McMurtry Spéirling (which can reach the speed in 1.4 seconds) and close to a full second quicker than the Rimac Nevera (1.81 seconds), though those are both production models. It’s not the fastest accelerating car out there, though. That, as Car and Driver points out, would be a Top Fuel dragster, which can hit 60 mph in about 0.4 seconds.