A NEW world land speed record for a lightweight electric car has been set at a racetrack near York.

The Drayson Racing Technologies Lola B12 69/EV hit a top speed of 204.185mph at the racetrack at Elvington Airfield.

The company’s chief executive, Lord Drayson, a former UK Science Minister who was behind the wheel of the 600bhp race car, was celebrating yesterday after smashing the record.

He said the achievement was designed to highlight the potential of electronic vehicle technology. The vehicle broke the previous record of 175mph, which was set by the US-built Battery Box Electric almost 40 years ago, in 1974.

The Labour peer’s record-breaking Drayson B12 69/EV electric Le-Mans Prototype is built by Drayson Racing.

Lord Drayson, 53, an entrepreneur who was the Science Minister from 2008 to 2010, had to perform two runs at the airfield within an hour for the record to stand. He said: “I’m delighted we’ve beaten the record and can show the world EVs can be fast and reliable.

“Drayson Racing is a laboratory for EV technology, testing it to the most extreme level, as we’ve seen today.

“It is not the outright speed that is most impressive about this record, but the engineering challenge of accelerating a 1,000kg electric vehicle on a short runway over a measured mile. What it, I hope, shows to people is just what the future potential of electric cars is.”

Drayson Racing is a research and development business, pioneering the development of sustainable technologies in the challenging environment of motorsport. With the electric land speed record it intends to showcase what is possible with an electric drivetrain and underscore Britain’s leadership position in the EV industry.

Based in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, the firm – founded in 2007 – works with others to develop more sustainable automotive technologies.

To qualify for an attempt on the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) world electric land speed record the vehicle had to weigh less than 1,000kg (2,204lb) without the driver.