Jonny Smith

Jonny Smith

Jonny Smith

Jonny Smith

Jonny Smith's Flux Capacitor is one of the quirkiest (but most interesting) electric vehicles on the road today. Smith, a British automotive journalist, took an old Enfield 8000 electric city car (built in small numbers in the 1970s) and transformed it into something a lot wilder. Out went the array of 12v batteries and 8hp (6kW) electric motor, to be replaced by an altogether more potent powertrain. And on July 16, Smith and the Flux Capacitor entered the record books as the world's fastest street-legal EV, running the quarter-mile in 9.87 seconds.

When last we checked in with Smith, the Flux Capacitor was only Europe's fastest street-legal EV, with a sub-11 second, 1/4-mile time under its (bright orange) belt. Since then, the existing 144-cell Hyperdrive Innovation lithium-ion battery pack has been supplemented by an extra 44 cells located in the trunk. That upgrade has boosted the car from 370v to 400v, and together with lower gearing on the differential, the times at Santa Pod Raceway in the UK began to fall.

"The combination of big voltage, amps, and phenomenal grip gave us early ten-second quarter miles, and when we braved the RPM limit of the motors, we managed a nine [second run]," Smith told Ars. "Despite all of this power and speed, the little Enfield still felt smooth, stable, and happy, which is unbelievable given that it was designed to do 40 miles an hour."

"I love this car for its sheer British engineering eccentricity, and I am glad to be bringing back a forgotten EV—thrusting it into the limelight of today," Smith added. "The R&D help from Olly Young at Current Racing has been invaluable to our success; Britain's taking back the amp kicking." Current Racing built the Black Current (an EV drag car built from a VW Beetle), which is another EV world record holder.

The new battery pack also boosts the Flux Capacitor's range to about 50 miles (80km), up from the previous 30 mile/48km range of before. Having ridden in the bright orange rocket, those 50 miles are bound to be rather exciting. Despite the car's boxy shape, it's remarkably aerodynamic (with a Cd of 0.28), and you sit very low to the ground, amplifying the sense of speed (which was comparable to the fastest cars we've driven in recent years, even in a reduced power road setting).

Bravo, Jonny; we at Ars salute you!

Listing image by Jonny Smith