Formula E Car Breaks Guinness World RecordsTM Indoors at 218 KM/H

London: The GENBETA, a new Formula E electric racing car, surpassed 218 kilometres per hour inside a building in London, shattering the previous indoor land-speed world record by more than 50 kilometres per hour.

While competing against Lucas di Grassi of the Mahindra Racing team in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, NEOM McLaren Formula E Team driver Jake Hughes set the official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the highest speed attained by a vehicle inside.

To determine who could establish the quickest speed inside, on only 346 metres of straight racing track using the identical GENBETA vehicle, two competitors competed head-to-head in the ‘Duels’ format used in qualifying for Formula E races.

Neither driver had ever driven the GENBETA before their record attempts, yet in all three of their practise runs before the official world record attempts, they surpassed the previous record of 165.2km/h established in February 2021.

British racer Jake Hughes set the pace with three practise runs, setting an immediate unofficial world record at a speed of 214.80 km/h on his first attempt. In his following two practise runs, he broke the previous unofficial world record, reaching speeds of 215.05 and 217.65 kilometres per hour, respectively.

In his debut year of Formula E competition, Hughes took off for his fourth and final qualifying lap. Before Lucas di Grassi could even start the competition, he set a new world record with a speed of 218.71 km/h.

The Brazilian got off to a strong start with a first run of 216.87 km/h, which was faster than Hughes’ first practise run. He appeared to be on track to snatch the world record from his championship rival when his third and final practise hit 218.18 km/h, which was only a hair slower than Hughes’ official world record.

Sadly, the most successful driver in Formula E history—who also happened to win the first race in Beijing in 2014—did not repeat as champion. With a final run speed of 217.65 km/h, Hughes was officially proclaimed the winner of this unprecedented Duel and the current bearer of the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for driver of the fastest car ever driven inside.

Both drivers used a modified version of the GENBETA vehicle that had been modified in various ways to “unlock” the performance capabilities of the GEN3 racing car. The GEN3 electric racing car, introduced for the current Formula E season, is the world’s quickest, lightest, most powerful, and most efficient vehicle of its kind. The GEN3 is utilised by all 11 teams and 22 drivers in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, and can reach speeds of over 322 km/h.

The modifications to the GEN3 as part of the GENBETA project include:

– Enhanced battery power output of 400kW, up from 350kW in the GEN3, through the activation of the front powertrain kit in traction, delivering all-wheel drive for the first time in a Formula E car. The battery was charged by ABB, the title partner and official charging partner of the Championship.
– New, softer iON Race tyre compound allows faster warm-up and better peak grip, developed by Hankook Tire, the official tyre supplier of Formula E.
– 3D printed front wing endplates, wheel fins and a wind deflector with circular, more sustainable thermoplastic solutions developed by SABIC, principal partner of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, to optimise aerodynamics for enhanced straight-line speed of the GENBETA.

In addition to technology innovations on the GENBETA car, Google Cloud provided generative artificial intelligence (AI) for analysis of the drivers’ runs. Using their leading platform, Vertex AI, Hughes and Di Grassi were able to interpret real-time telemetry data to generate speed, power and grip recommendations. This gave them the ability to interact and converse with an interface to help fine-tune their approach across their three attempts.

Experts from McKinsey & Company, led by its AI arm, Quantum Black, built data and analytics components to create the driver interface that analysed and queried data in real-time through generative AI for the record attempt.

An adjudicator from Guinness World Records monitored the attempts to ensure the drivers met strict criteria. To set the official indoor land-speed record, the GENBETA car had to set off from a static start and come to a complete halt inside one continuous building structure.

The drivers started from a standstill inside the ExCeL London events arena and navigated a 130-degree turn at around 40 km/h before quickly accelerating along the 346m straight of the race track.

The indoor straight is part of the 2.09km track which is unique in world motorsport for extending inside and outside the 100,000 sq/m ExCeL London events arena in the Docklands area of east London which will host the final two races in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday.

Their speed was measured by a sophisticated speed trap system at a fixed point just five metres before the drivers entered the braking zone – the length of track needed to come to a complete stop and remain inside the building.

The world record was set late at night on Tuesday, 25 July after construction work to install the track and grandstands at the venue was completed for the day.

Former World’s Strongest Man, Eddie Hall, who has broken multiple weightlifting world records, was part of the driver support team sharing his personal insights and advice on mental preparation for a world record attempt.

World record holder Jake Hughes, Driver, NEOM McLaren Formula E team, said:

“Driving the GENBETA car and setting the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the fastest speed achieved by a vehicle indoors was a really special experience. I feel very honoured to have been asked and to be involved in such an exciting project. It wasn’t something I ever imagined I’d have the opportunity to even attempt, so now to hold the record is pretty incredible, especially in a Formula E car. I didn’t realise how much I wanted this record until I saw Lucas [Di Grassi] trying to break the record after me. When I was announced I was the record holder I felt a massive sense of pride.”
Jeff Dodds, CEO of Formula E, said:

“Huge congratulations to Jake and big thanks to Lucas for competing together to smash a world record and showcase the incredible potential of EVs. Everyone involved in the GENBETA project is driven by the same goal of pioneering innovation and development in EV technology and bringing that game-changing tech to the cars we drive on city streets to create a cleaner, electric future.”