The car kind of looks like it belongs in a science-fiction movie that was shot in the 1970s. It’s a few spikes away from looking like one of the models used in Death Race 2000. Website Speed Society has learned it borrows a handful of components from the third-generation Chevrolet Corvette, but the similarities between the two models are few and far between. Under the custom, wedge-shaped body lies a battery-powered drivetrain built from scratch by Hans-Henrik Thomsen and his cousin, Glenn Nielsen. The men call themselves the True Cousins, and they’ve dubbed their creation TC-X.
The TC-X recently blast through an eighth of a mile in just 4.89 seconds at a speed of 144 mph. That’s about a second away from the world record, which stands at 4.75 seconds, but before earning the bragging rights the True Cousins needed to prove they didn’t just get lucky. They posted a 4.9-second time on their second run down the same track in Malmo, Sweden. The TC-X is now officially the quickest-accelerating full-bodied electric car on the planet, and close to the all-out record for battery-powered machines.
That’s not the first time it’s gotten within striking distance of a world record. In 2015, the TC-X covered an eighth of a mile in 5.7 seconds, which made it the quickest electric car in the world at the time. Think a Tesla is ludicrous? This one was capable of blasting from zero to 62 mph in just 1.5 seconds. At the time, the powertrain used a huge battery pack that zapped a pair of forklift engine the cousins bought used. The batteries provided 2,200 horsepower for up to five seconds, which explains its neck-snapping acceleration. More up-to-date specifications haven’t been released yet, but pictures on the cousins’ Facebook page show it’s fitted with a parachute to help bring the action to a stop.
The current record-holder is a car named Panic in Detroit, according to Danish website Politiken. The True Cousins hope to beat its record once and for all the next time the TC-X hits the track.
“[In Malmo] we will see if the car and motorcycle can fall below 4.7. Then we want to beat the Americans. It will be a little shameful,” said Thomsen.
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