There’s certainly no shortage of debate when it comes to electric vehicles. However, one simply cannot argue that electric motors aren’t great for performance. The instant-on behavior that gives full torque and power the second you step on the accelerator is exhilarating. It’s not just a novelty, either. Check out this all-electric race car that shattered the Goodwood Festival of Speed record.

This EV beat the previous Goodwood record, held by an actual F1 car, by over two seconds

This past weekend was host to the legendary Goodwood Festival of Speed. It’s an event in the UK where hundreds of manufacturers, tuners, and racing teams descend on the Goodwood hill climb course to strut their stuff.

One of the attending manufacturers is a little-known company called McMurty Automotive. They produce an electric hypercar called the Speirling. Though they’re still a bit obscure, the world got a taste of what the manufacturer is capable of at Goodwood when its car beat the hill climb record time by over two seconds. That’s a lot of time on a course that short!

The insane vehicle zips up the course with ease in a video posted to the Goodwood Road and Racing Youtube channel. Most EVs are known for being silent. However, the McMurty makes an unforgettable sound resembling a jet engine as it passes by. With a time of just 39.08 seconds, the Speirling shattered the 41.6-second record held by a McLaren MP4/13 Formula 1 car for 23 years.

The McMurty Speirling uses technology that has been banned from racing. Effectively, the ban is because it works a little too well. It’s a “fan car,” which uses a fan on the rear to effectively suck the air out from under the car, creating a vacuum beneath the chassis. As a result, the car has an astronomical amount of grip. According to the company’s website, the vehicle is capable of a sub-two-second zero to 60 mph run and can pull upwards of 3 Gs in corners.

The McMurty Speirling shows that electric vehicles are the future of racing performance

Like it or not, high-performance EVs are a force of nature. As technology advances, it will become more and more difficult for gasoline engines to hold their own in a race. As much as it’s easy to love the amazing sound of a high-revving F1 engine wailing by at over 10,000 RPM, you can’t argue with the downright disrespectful performance electric motors are putting down.

It’s a bit symbolic, in fact, that it took 23 years for the record to be broken. At the time of the McLaren’s record-setting pass, electric vehicles were more of a novelty than anything. They still used lead-acid batteries. In fact, the only hybrid vehicle available on a worldwide scale in 1999 was the Honda Insight. Now, though, lithium batteries and modern electric motors are here to prove that they’re not a novelty.

It’s understandable that racing and automotive enthusiasts don’t want to lose the internal combustion engine. However, this new Goodwood record proves that electric cars are the future of performance.