Ford Pro Electric Supervanbufff… not every day you have the opportunity to get on a vehicle with 2,000 horsepower, even if it’s co-pilot, and feel the sensation of acceleration of a space rocket while you check that your 5-point harness can’t get any tighter. Today is one of those days.
Welcome to Ford’s greatest electric madness, a van with 4 engines (one per wheel) totaling 2,000 hp (about 1,500 kW)built on a tubular chassis, with competition suspensions, a two-speed gearbox, a theoretical acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 2 seconds and a top speed of 320 km/h.
To close the technical section and focus on the experience, I can say that the Supervan carries a 50 kWh battery (very small) that have to feed 1.5 MW of power. If you do the division, you will see that at full power it would run out in exactly 2 minutes. That’s why it recharges after every few minutes of sprinting around the track. While his next victim is uploaded 🙂
The maelstrom of emotions
A Formula 1 accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in about 2.8 seconds, not because of a power limitation, but because of a traction limitation. This means that, From a standstill, this 4×4 van accelerates considerably more than an F1, if the grip conditions that allow such a feat are given (slick tires and slightly rough perfect asphalt). That’s the level we’re talking about.
The test consists of ride at full speed through a long circuit full of curves and with some long straightwith a professional pilot, and test the resistance of my stomach as well as the limits of adherence of my vital organs with respect to the body that contains them, including the brain inside the skull.
I don’t like roller coasters, but I love speed. This hypervitaminized Ford Transit has 4 huge competition slick tires + all-wheel drive and It provides us with accelerations greater than 1g not only when going full throttle, but also when braking and when cornering.
That means the seat and harness govern your body, subjected to longitudinal and lateral forces greater than your own weight. You are at the mercy of restraint, you simply could not hold yourself in the seat.
The initial feeling that you are going to die is being replaced by a recalibration of your brainwho quickly begins to understand that yes, the grip is that wild and that the curves can be given at that speed at which it would seem impossible.
The acceleration seems unreal, as if the horizon came towards you in faster and faster camera, and your stomach shrinks. You can’t believe it because it looks like a movie and there are no references for this violence in the thrust. Nothing serial does this.
Arriving at the first corner you discover that your 5-point harness, which was tightening you while standing until you hurt a little, actually has a lot of slack. Your body comes to separate a few millimeters from the back while your ribs are compressed against the straps in a frantic deceleration. It’s brutal.
As you enter the curve, a speed that is unprecedented in your mental references, you have the feeling that it is impossible to give it at that speed. It’s the only time your survival instinct sends you a little warning whisper, instantly silenced by the outsized grip of the Formula 1 tires that stick to the tarmac like gum.
From there, the succession of accelerations, braking and vertiginous curves make you enjoy more and more as you gain confidence with the limits of physics. The two laps of the circuit are very short, maybe 4 or 5 minutes in total, but It’s so intense that you don’t leave wanting more.
Best of all, I was able not to get dizzy, which is rare, and enjoy every second of this amazing experience. If you ever get the opportunity to do something like this, don’t let it pass you by.
…and that’s how electric cars take it to the limit 😊
