Team members AMZ (Academic Motorsports Club Zurich) composed of students from the Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Lucerne, created a single-seater in which they managed to break the world acceleration record for an electric vehicle when it completed 0-100 km/h in 0.956 seconds.
The previous record, set by a team from the University of Stuttgart in September 2022, was 1.461 seconds, so the new time represents an improvement on the previous mark by almost a third. The car, named Mythen accomplished this feat at a distance of 12.3 meters.
AMZ was founded in 2006 by students from ETH Zurich. Since then, the team has participated every year in Formula Student European. After developing three models equipped with internal combustion engines, since 2010 AMZ has focused on 100% electric cars.
“Working on the project in addition to my studies was very intense. But still, it was fun to work with other students to continuously come up with new solutions and practice what we learned in class. And, of course, the participating in a world record is an amazing experience.”expressed Yann Bernard, engine director at AMZ.
A featherweight electric single-seater
To ensure that the vehicle achieves good mobility regardless of its speed, the team created a vacuum system that “sticks” it to the ground using suction. “Power isn’t the only thing that matters when it comes to setting an acceleration record: effectively transferring that power to the ground is also important.”declare Dario Messerli, head of aerodynamics at AMZ.
According to the statement published by ETH Zurich, all components (chassis, battery, etc.) are developed and optimized by students. The car is almost 140 kilos thanks to the use of carbon fiber and aluminum parts, combined with the use of four motors capable of delivering 320 HP (240 kW) provide exceptional performance.
This is not the first time that AMZ has set a world acceleration record, having already achieved this milestone in 2014 and 2016. On this occasion, Kate Maggetti was responsible for taking the controls of the car. The record, which is verified by Guinness World Records fought in Dübendorf, where the student group currently has its headquarters and workshop.
