Torque Shop: Possible to accelerate from 0 to 100kmh in under 1s?
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Gone in under a second: That is the record set by a car built by students at a Swiss university.
PHOTO: ETH ZURICH
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Is it possible to have a car that does the 0-100kmh sprint in less than one second?
Porsche recently announced that its latest 911 Turbo S, a sports car with more than 700hp, is capable of going from 0 to 100kmh in 2.5 seconds, down 0.2 seconds from the pre-facelift version.
It was not long ago when any car that could accelerate to 100kmh from standstill in less than five seconds was considered exceptional.
So, it is not unreasonable to wonder if a car can complete the century sprint in under a second.
There are plenty of physical constraints that make this hugely difficult to conquer.
Weight is the first factor that challenges any vehicle’s acceleration from standstill. With any increase in weight, the only way to maintain acceleration is with a proportional increase in power.
The main reason heavy electric vehicles accelerate better than a lighter but similarly sized petrol-engine car is because of the battery-powered motors’ almost instantaneous rise in torque output from the start.
High engine torque and power outputs require careful control of traction. This is the other problem with accelerating from standstill.
Electric cars are better at managing traction and this is also one reason the 2,300kg Rimac Nevera electric car – which has four motors making more than 1,800hp – gets from 0 to 100kmh in under two seconds.
Aerodynamic drag may not be huge at speeds below 100kmh, but even without cross-winds, the resisting force of air is four times higher at 80kmh than at 40kmh. Ultimate drag forces are not large, but in the quest for a record 0-100kmh time, the aerodynamic factor is not to be dismissed.
The current record for the 0-100kmh sprint is held by a prototype race car that you cannot buy. Built by a group of students from Swiss university ETH Zurich in 2023, it is a tiny four-wheel fully electric single-seater.
The lightest materials were used in its construction, resulting in a kerb weight of just 140kg. With minimum aerodynamic drag, a quad-motor electric powertrain producing 326hp and a complex drivetrain control, it sprints from standstill to 100kmh in 0.956 seconds.
