With that goal in mind, Venturi Automobiles will be back at Bonneville in September, with fingers and toes crossed hoping the wet weather doesn't prevent a run at the record for the fourth year running.

Having set the world land speed record for electric vehicles with the 307.7 mph (495 km/h) Buckeye Bullet 2.5 in 2009, the team at Venturi and Ohio State University returned to the Salt Flats at Bonneville in 2013 with the 3,000 hp (2,237 kW) VBB-3. Aiming to eventually exceed 440 mph (708 km/h), the team has been stopped in their tracks by rain on the last three attempts. 

That's not to say the car hasn't managed at least some records in its lifetime. Faced with a shortened, choppy track last year, driver Roger Schroer managed an average speed of 240.32 mph (386.757 km/h), enough to take out the record for electric cars over 3.5-tonnes as a consolation prize.