The electric “space race” is well and truly alive with Drayson Racing firing off the first “moon shot” by setting a new world land speed record for electric cars.

Drayson joins Nissan’s new ZEOD RC Le Mans program and the 2014 launch of Formula E Championship as the pioneers of electric racing.

Drayson – the former UK science minister, businessman and racing driver – was behind the wheel of the Drayson B12 69/EV electric Le-Mans Prototype which set a top speed average over two runs of 204.185mph on June 26 at the RAF Elvington airfield in the UK.

In near perfect conditions, the Oxford-based Drayson outfit smashed the previous 175mph record, which had stood for nearly forty years, by 29.2mph.

“I’m delighted we beat the record last night and can show the world EVs can be fast and reliable. Drayson Racing is a laboratory for EV technology, testing it to the most extreme level, as we’ve seen today,” Drayson said.

“It is not the outright speed of 204.185mph that is most impressive about this record, but the engineering challenge of accelerating a 1000kg electric vehicle on a short runway over a measured mile. However I’ve got a great team and world-class partners, such as QualcommHalo, Michelin, Multimatic and Cosworth.”

“This is a true celebration of Britain’s leading position within the burgeoning electric vehicle industry and I’m delighted to be at the forefront of this electric revolution. Today we have set more British records for acceleration, which I’m also delighted about.”