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  • Zero to 100 kmph is the standard test for how fast a car accelerates.

  • The Brits call it 0-60 mph.

  • An everyday road car with a bit of power can do that in six or seven seconds.

  • A Formula 1 car, about two seconds.

  • As I record this, the fastest accelerating road-legal car in the world is the Rimac Nivera, which can go from zero to 100 kmph in 1.85 seconds.

  • This is Mieten, built by a team from ETH Zurich, a Swiss university.

  • And it hits 100 kmph in under a second.

  • This car is the current holder of the world record in acceleration from zero to 100 kmph for electric vehicles.

  • For the world record project, we brought together a team of alumni and current team members.

  • Some are students, some are recent graduates.

  • We took a car that was fully designed by students, we modified it.

  • That also allowed some of the members that are still students to do research and make a master thesis.

  • And I'm about to get in it and do that.

  • But there is quite a history of floppy-haired British presenters getting into high-speed vehicles and ending up in hospitals, so I've got a lot of safety briefing to do first.

  • To build a car that can go this fast, you really need to go down to the first principles of physics.

  • You need to be able to put enough force into the ground in a very short amount of time.

  • Just pure grip reaches its limits at around 1.5 seconds approximately.

  • To get more force into the ground, we use a self-developed system which we call power ground effect.

  • We suck the air out underneath the car from a big plate and this pulls the car to the ground to make the car accelerate faster.

  • We use two fans that power up shortly before launch to pull the car down to be able to create that underpressure.

  • However, for the back wheels, we need more torque.

  • So for this, we developed a new generation of motors that has approximately twice the amount of torque.

  • Each of the motors has approximately the same power as a small hatchback.

  • Everything is custom, self-designed, so it's quite expensive.

  • The main source of parts is from our sponsors, from the industry.

  • We also get a lot of support from the university.

  • Our mission is not to build race cars, it is to build up engineers.

  • At world record pace, a lightweight driver in here pulls 3.8 G's peak acceleration.

  • I'm going to add about 30 more kilos of weight, so I'm not going to quite hit that pace, but it's going to be close.

  • It's almost as fast as the catapult that launches fighter jets from aircraft carriers.

  • It's faster than any rollercoaster launch, apart from one in Japan that's currently closed because it kept shattering people's bones.

  • There are cars which take off faster than Mitten here, but they're top-fueled dragsters running on nitromethane, loud enough to cause hearing damage and not suitable for anything other than going in a straight line for a few seconds.

  • And yes, I will just be going in a straight line for a few seconds, but in theory, I could go round an actual racetrack.

  • Electrically, the main danger is high voltage.

  • There are emergency buttons, push that button to turn off the car.

  • If there is, for example, a fire in the car, the driver has to be able to get out quickly.

  • It's something you have to train just to be quick enough.

  • That was 6.6.

  • You have to be able to exit the car within five seconds.

  • Go!

  • Clear!

  • 4.6.

  • That'll do.

  • Yay!

  • It's absolutely difficult to describe because it's only a second.

  • It's a really surreal experience because you don't really believe it just happened.

  • You go into acceleration mode, roll to the start, initiate power ground effect, which will sock you to the floor.

  • PG active.

  • Floor clearance active.

  • Oh boy.

  • Hold down.

  • You will have to pull on the buttons behind the steering wheel and then push throttle.

  • And then when you release, there is a split second where nothing happens, but then you will get launched.

  • Flux throttle.

  • Holy!

  • What?

  • After you have reached 100 kmh, the car will shut down and then you can slowly go on the What?

  • No!

  • What?

  • No! No!

  • No!

  • No! That was the longest second of my life.

  • Was that really only like one and a bit seconds?

  • That felt like five.

  • That felt like five seconds.

  • Pretty much dead on 1.4 seconds. 1.4?

  • I mean it's your round of applause folks, congratulations, that's a heck of a thing.

Zero to 100 kmph is the standard test for how fast a car accelerates.

Subtitles and vocabulary

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B1 world record acceleration ground approximately record power

0-100 in less than a second. And I'm driving.

  • 381 10
    林宜悉 posted on 2025/06/17
Video vocabulary

Keywords

straight

US /stret/

UK /streɪt/

  • adjective
  • honest and direct
  • Continuous; uninterrupted.
  • Not having curves, bends, or angles
  • Heterosexual.
  • Honest; frank; straightforward.
  • In proper order; correctly arranged.
  • Not gay; heterosexual
  • Without bends or curves; proceeding in the same direction without deviation.
  • adverb
  • in a line; immediately; honestly and directly
  • In a straight line; directly.
  • Immediately; at once.
  • noun
  • A heterosexual person.
  • other
  • To make or become straight.
force

US /fɔrs, fors/

UK /fɔ:s/

  • other
  • To break open (something) using force.
  • To compel (someone) to do something.
  • To cause (a plant or crop) to develop or mature prematurely in a greenhouse or under artificial conditions.
  • To cause (a plant or flower) to grow or develop at an increased rate.
  • To use physical strength to break open or move (something).
  • other
  • Coercion or compulsion; strength or power exerted to cause motion or change.
  • Strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
  • other
  • Coercion or compulsion; strength or power exerted to cause or affect.
  • An influence or effect.
  • Physical strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
  • Strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
  • noun
  • Coercion or compulsion, especially with the use or threat of violence.
  • Group of persons trained for military action; army
  • A body of people employed and trained for a particular task or purpose.
  • An influence or effect.
  • A body of people employed and trained for law enforcement.
  • A body of soldiers or police.
  • An influence that can cause a body to accelerate.
  • Pressure; attraction
  • Strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
  • The use of physical strength/violence to persuade
  • Strength or power of expression or argument.
  • verb
  • To use physical strength or violence to persuade
applause

US /əˈplɔz/

UK /ə'plɔ:z/

  • noun
  • The sound made by clapping a performance or speech
develop

US /dɪˈvɛləp/

UK /dɪ'veləp/

  • verb
  • To explain something in steps and in detail
  • To create or think of something
  • To grow bigger, more complex, or more advanced
  • To make a photograph from film
  • other
  • To invent something or cause something to exist
  • To start to suffer from an illness or other medical condition
  • To improve the quality, strength, or usefulness of something
  • other
  • To (cause something to) grow or change into a more advanced, larger, or stronger form
split

US /splɪt/

UK /splɪt/

  • adjective
  • No longer married or in a relationship
  • (Injured) by cutting it open, as in someone's lip
  • (Of a decision) when people cannot decide a winner
  • verb
  • To become divided or broken along a straight line
  • To cause a cut in (lip, etc.)
  • To have difference of opinion in a group
  • To separate into two or more pieces
  • To divide something in an even or fair way
  • noun
  • Difference of opinion in a group causing a break
  • Separation or a break in something
approximately

US /əˈprɑksəmɪtlɪ/

UK /əˈprɒksɪmətli/

  • adverb
  • Around; nearly; almost; about (a number)
describe

US /dɪˈskraɪb/

UK /dɪ'skraɪb/

  • verb
  • To tell the appearance, sound, smell of something
  • other
  • To define or classify something.
  • To draw or trace the outline of; to form.
  • To give an account in words of someone or something, including all the important details.
  • To give a detailed account of; portray.
  • To give an account in words of (someone or something), including all the important details.
  • To trace the outline of; to draw.
amount

US /əˈmaʊnt/

UK /ə'maʊnt/

  • noun
  • Quantity of something
  • verb
  • To add up to a certain figure
current

US /ˈkɚrənt, ˈkʌr-/

UK /'kʌrənt/

  • adjective
  • In general use or accepted by most people.
  • Of or relating to the present time; up-to-date.
  • Happening or being in the present time
  • Happening or existing now; belonging to the present time.
  • Valid or up-to-date.
  • noun
  • Electricity flowing through wires
  • Currency in circulation.
  • Movement of water in a river, or air in the sky
  • A widespread feeling or opinion.
  • A general tendency or course of events.
  • other
  • A flow of electrical charge through a conductor.
industry

US /ˈɪndəstri/

UK /'ɪndəstrɪ/

  • other
  • The production of goods or related services within an economy.
  • other
  • The production of goods or services within a country or region.
  • Hard work and dedication to a task or purpose.
  • noun
  • Hard work; being busy working
  • Factories or businesses that make certain products
  • A group of businesses that provide a particular product or service.
  • other
  • A group of businesses that provide similar products or services.