Electric car sets U.K. speed record

ELVINGTON, England, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A battery-powered car has broken the British land-speed record for electric vehicles at an airfield near York, its makers reported, reaching 151.6 mph.

Nemesis, a heavily modified Lotus Exige purchased on eBay, was put together by a team of British automotive engineers in Norfolk, the BBC reported Thursday.

During two runs along a mile-long course, the car beat the record of 137 mph.

"It was brilliant," driver Nick Ponting, 21, said. "The car felt really good. The conditions were perfect."

Electricity to charge the car has been generated by wind turbines operated by a company called Ecotricity.

"We built the Nemesis to smash the stereotype of electric cars as something ... slow, boring, not cool," Dale Vince of Ecotricity said.

The previous record had been held by Don Wales, the grandson of British speed record setter Malcolm Campbell.

The Nemesis record must be ratified by the Motor Sports Association before it can be declared official, the BBC reported.