The fastest machine in the world has appeared again. At a car event at Kennedy Space Center last week, a driverless Maserati MC20 Coupe set a new land speed record for autonomous vehicles, reaching 197.7 mph (318 km/h).
Maserati runs self-driving software developed by Politecnico di Milano, Italy's largest technical university. The team is also working with the Indy Autonomous Challenge, which was most recently held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES2025).
With NASA's iconic space shuttle in the background, the race car speeded around the 2.8-mile track at a record-breaking speed, surpassing the Indy Autonomous Challenge and PoliMOVE record of 192.2 mph set by the IACAV-21 race car in April 2022.
This achievement is noteworthy, and not just because the self-driving race car can go faster than any self-driving car before it. Part of the effort is to stress-test the reliability of the algorithms that underpin self-driving systems, determining how well they manage extreme speeds. By pushing the envelope, the record-setting team hopes to apply what they learn to self-driving cars on local roads to improve safety.
Paul Mitchell, CEO of IndyAutonomousChallenge and AidoptationBV, said in a statement: "These world speed records are more than just a showcase for future technology. We are pushing artificial intelligence driving software and robotic hardware to an absolute advantage. Doing so with streetcars helps translate the experience of autonomous racing into safe, reliable, sustainable, high-speed autonomous transportation on the highway."
The Maserati MC20 is a stylish and expensive choice among self-driving cars. The race car is powered by a mid-mounted twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine that Maserati calls the Nettuno and will cost at least $239,000. This engine is powerful: 621 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque, sent to the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.