The Electric Van from Hell Is Back to Duel with a BMW i8 and a Dodge Viper

It was less than a month ago that Edna went up against a Tesla Model S (version unspecified) and a Ferrari California and mopped the floor with both of them. This time around, the race is somewhat similar in that the other two combatants still represent the old and the new of the automotive industry: there's a Dodge Viper there to make a case for the classic supercar, and a BMW i8 that somewhat provides the link between the other two with its hybrid powertrain.

While Atieva understandably focuses on its winning car, its videos also make a clear statement for change in general: not only does the internal combustion engine entrant not win, but it always comes last. First, it was the Ferrari (admittedly, not the fastest of them), and now it's the American powerhouse.

The company hasn't made another drag race just for the sake of it, but to showcase the improvements it's made to its setup. In case you've forgotten, the Edna runs on two electric motors, two sets of power electronics, two gearboxes, and one battery capable of storing 87 kWh of energy and outputting over 900 horsepower. That was enough to give the large Mercedes-Benz van a 0-60 mph time of 3.08 seconds during its first run. Now, however, Atieva managed to bring that down to under three seconds.

The number is still 0.14 higher than Tesla's claimed 2.8 seconds, but bear in mind this was achieved in a test vehicle whose body was not developed with aerodynamics in mind. Eventually, Atieva intends to put this powertrain inside a premium sedan, much like the Tesla Model S, and it says it might happen sooner than expected. Even though we're now with one step in 2017, it says that its product could hit the market as early as 2018. That's hard to believe, but fingers crossed.

In the text accompanying the release of the video, Atieva details what it's been working on lately and what it plans of improving further: “Since the last test we have been poring over the data looking for ways to further enhance low-end acceleration. We have also been working on the motor control strategy at higher motor speeds. AC induction motors, which are currently installed in Edna, require fine tuning at all motor speeds in order to extract maximum performance. Until this month the team had been focused primarily on the low-end, but with the performance now approaching maximum potential we are extending this tuning beyond 100 mph.”

The all-electric Vito completed the quarter-mile race in 11.3 seconds with a speed of 117 mph (188 km/h), which has got to be some sort of a record for electric vans. However, there's a very strong sensation that we'll be hearing more from Edna in the following months, and we can't see anyone complaining about that.