Cheetahs are one of the most popular members of the wild cats, largely because of its unmatched acceleration. While the Cheetah has a maximum speed of just 70 mph (nothing as close to the top speeds of electric race cars), it can achieve up to 90% of this speed within 3 seconds, which also makes it one of the most dangerous animals for its prey. Unfortunately, the glorious wild cats are also among the species who are endangered because of illegal hunting, poaching and changing climates.
Formula-E racing is a special kind of racing platform that is trying to promote environment-friendly cars by putting electric-powered racecars in its races. The organizers of the Formula-E racing series recently shot a 2-minute video of a cheetah racing against a Formula-E electric-powered race car. The race car in the video is driven by Jean-Eric Vergne from Techeetah team (winner of Montreal E-Prix held this July). The team agreed to race against the four-footed speedster with a 0-62mph acceleration time that can be matched closely with their own electric-powered supercar.
Jean-Eric Vergne
As expected, the cheetah was the one who took the lead at the start of the race. The animal rocketed from the starting line with an explosive acceleration as the electric car managed to stay in the race. Surely enough, the electric car started gaining on the animal mid-race and just before the finish line; the electric powered car was able to overtake the cheetah.
The video is sponsored and corroborated by three of the most active wildlife-focused organizations: Animal Issues Matter, Endangered Wildlife Trust, and Cheetah Outreach. The video ends with the cheetah standing tall on the front of the car with Vergne standing right beside it, with one hand on the cheetah’s neck.
Watch the video below:
