Petrol vs Electric: World's fastest cars go head-to-head
Its hard to ignore the staggering rise of the electric car, now the largest singular growth area in the UK car market and with the traditional petrol and diesel market firmly in its crosshairs.
One of the best ways to measure how competitive electric cars are becoming, is speed. Fans of Petrol and Electric Cars have been debating for years, but we wanted to get a defintive answer to settle the score. To do this, Select Car Leasing have created an interactive drag race and 0-60 sprint between the 30 fastest cars on the planet.
Use our iframe below or view the full race here: https://www.selectcarleasing.co.uk/electric-petrol-drag-race/ to discover who comes out on top!
Key Insights
- 9 of the 30 fastest cars in the world over a quarter mile are now all-electric or hybrids.
- The two cars with the fastest 0 60 time are all-electric or hybrid.
- Electric cars accelerate quicker than petrol cars but lack the top speed to win over a quarter mile.
- Tesla produces five of the quickest 30 cars to reach 60 MPH, and theyre all-electric.
- The myth that electric cars are slow and boring to drive is eroding by the year, beating the performance of traditional petrol cars.
Petrol vs Electric - The Drag Race
Six of the 10 fastest cars over a quarter mile are now either all-electric or hybrids. Try as they might Electric cars are still unable to clinch the top two spots - with the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and Bugatti Veyron Super Sport completing a quarter mile in 9.65 and 9.7 seconds respectively to take these coveted positions.
A total of 9 all-electric or hybrid cars appear on our fastest 30 list - a hugely impressive feat considering the relatively short history of the mainstream electric car, in comparison to its petrol counterparts.
Petrol vs Electric - The 0-60 Sprint
Even though petrol still holds the crown in a quarter mile race, its an entirely different story in a 0-60 sprint. Electric and Hybrid power to victory in this regard. with the two top performing cars, the Porsche 918 Spyder and Tesla Model S P100D Ludicrous topping the list. In total, 7 all-electric cars appear in the top 30 to 60 MPH list, along with 3 hybrids. The signs look great for the future for alternative fuel, as well- with high-power electric offerings from Aston Martin, Tesla, Audi and BMW all in the pipeline.
Top Gear fans will be familiar with the best performing petrol car on the list, the Ariel Atom, which caused the infamous Jeremy Clarkson 'Face Ripple. Capable of reaching 60MPH in a ridiculous 2.3 seconds, the Atom was limited to just 25 production cars when it was released in 2007. Nine years later, it still remains the fastest 0-60mph petrol car of all time.
A general trend between both drag races seems to be that that electric cars are tremendously fast in getting up to 60 MPH, but beyond that slow and get overtaken by traditional, petrol cars in a quarter mile drag race. Many electric cars, including Teslas, have a limited top speed, which may affect their performance over longer distances.
What does the future look like for Petrol v Electric?
Its safe to say the current crop of petrol supercars will be looking over their shoulder and finding electric cars are a little too close for comfort. And the bad news for fans of the combustion engine is that from 2019 onwards, the gap is closing further. High-performance battery powered arrivals from Aston Martin, BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Porsche are on the way in 2020 and 2021 and look set to tip the balance further in favour of the electric car. Watch this space.
Along with our interactive drag race, the Select Car Leasing news section is jam-packed with interesting automotive content, whether it be our take on European cars Americanised or our celebration of the greatest car designers of all time.
