We all heard about Jonny Smith, the motorign journalist who filmed for Fifth Gear. He is a passionate of cars and now is also the owner of the fastest electric vehicle in the world: a tiny car from 1970.
The Enfield 8000, a forgotten city car built on the Isle of Wight in the oil crisis era, stormed through the quarter mile sprint at Santa Pod in a record-smashing 9.86 seconds at an average 121mph. Jonny snatched the world record, which stood at 10.25 seconds, from the car that inspired him in the first place – an electric converted old Datsun owned by John Wayland from Portland, Oregon.
Originally boasting just 8hp, the car dubbed the Flux Capacitor now packs more than 800bhp, 1,200lbft of torque and quietly rockets to 113mph in six seconds.
The car 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 9-inch motors to drive the back wheels.
To put that in perspective, it outpaces modern supercars like the Lamborghini Aventador, McLaren’s 650S, a Porsche 911 Turbo S, Nissan GT-R and even Tesla’s incredibly capable P90D electric car.
Jonny rescued the Enfield, then a flood-damaged write-off, four years ago, and restored the car before adding 21st century electric technology.
The batteries are normally seen running the miniguns and starting the engines of a Bell Super Cobra attack helicopter, but built for the car by Hyperdrive Innovations in Sunderland.
