Spending a few days on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah watching Andy Green and the JCB Hydromax team set a new 406.320mph land speed record for a hydrogen-powered vehicle was a real privilege – and it provided plenty of takeaways. First, land speed records are incredibly cool, one of the few areas of motorsport that isn’t overburdened by regulations and still encourages boundary pushing. Second, Bonneville is an incredible place, simultaneously flat, featureless and other-worldly yet also totally alive and constantly changing. And third, watching land speed records live is amazing but isn’t the easiest of spectating experiences because the car is going straight and you have to stand really far away.
View Price on AmazonLand speed records are a unique aspect of motorsport, with a long history dating back to the early 20th century. The current record for an electric vehicle stands at 228.194mph, set by the Venturi Buckeye Bullet 3 in 2016. While electric cars have made significant progress in recent years, they still have a long way to go to match the speeds achieved by their gasoline-powered counterparts. The lack of involvement from major car manufacturers in electric land speed record attempts is surprising, given the potential for innovation and technological advancement that such endeavors could bring.
Source: autocar.co.uk
