Which 1899 Belgian electric car first exceeded 100 km/h?

The 1899 Belgian electric car that first exceeded 100 km/h was La Jamais Contente.

Built as a purpose-designed speed racer, La Jamais Contente had a distinctive torpedo-shaped body and was powered by two Postel-Vinay electric motors. Its lightweight body used partinium, an alloy described as containing aluminium, tungsten, and magnesium. The car’s exposed chassis and high driver position were not especially aerodynamic by modern standards, but its electric powertrain delivered remarkable performance for the era.

On 29 April 1899 at Achères, near Paris, the car reached about 105.88 km/h over a measured kilometre. That made it the first road vehicle to break the symbolic 100-km/h barrier. The record followed a fierce series of speed contests between Camille Jenatzy and Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat, who drove a Jeantaud electric car.

The achievement is sometimes overlooked because gasoline-powered cars later dominated land-speed records. La Jamais Contente is therefore not merely an early electric car: it was a landmark in automotive engineering and the first automobile to pass 100 km/h. The surviving vehicle is displayed at the National Car and Tourism Museum in Compiègne, France.