Australian engineering students have been officially recognised as world record holders for the fastest electric vehicle over a distance of 500 kilometres.

A team of UNSW students marked a speed of 106.966 kilometres an hour in July this year.

The previous record of 73 kilometres an hour stood for 26 years.

“It's not often you can confidently say you made history before you even graduated,” UNSW’s Sunswift project director and third-year engineering student Hayden Smith said.

Sunswift is Australia’s top solar car racing team. Its current vehicle – eVe - is the fifth to be built and raced since the team was founded in 1996.

Earlier versions of the Sunswift car have been used to set a world record for the fastest solar powered road trip from Perth to Sydney, and a Guinness World Record for the fastest solar car.

“For a student project to achieve a new world record for electric vehicle speed and endurance is truly remarkable,” UNSW Engineering Dean Professor Graham Davies said.

“It goes to show what exceptional students we have here at UNSW.”

With the world record now official, the team is set to embark on its next major challenge – modifying the eVe to meet Australian road registration requirements.

“eVe will now be taken off the road for a few months to begin the transformation,” Smith said, adding that the car could be registered and on city streets within a year.

“We've always wanted to keep pushing the cultural change towards electric vehicles, and this is another big step in that direction.”