Driverless Car Sets Speed Record at 160 MPH

Don't believe it? Here's video proof of the Feb. 23 stunt.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • linkText
  • Email
(TNS) -- A Chinese startup is setting speed records all around the globe with its electric supercar, the NIO EP9.

Last week, at the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, it claimed a new title -- fastest lap by a self-driving car.

The NIO EP9 circled the Hill Country track without a driver in 2 minutes and 40.33 seconds at a top speed of 160 mph.

Don't believe it? Here's video proof of the Feb. 23 stunt:



The sleek EP9 previously broke electric car records at famed tracks in Germany and France.

The Austin event was a warm-up for the brand's U.S. launch this month at SXSW. NIO's CEO, Padmasree Warrior, will deliver a keynote March 11 at the conference. The autonomous EP9 will be displayed there March 10-12.

NIO is primarily funded by Chinese venture firms and tech entrepreneurs, but it also has a strong engineering presence in Silicon Valley, according to the website Electrek. The EP9 will be the company's first vehicle and will only be produced in low volume for about $1 million a car.

©2017 The Dallas Morning News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • linkText
  • Email