The outlandish Ford Supervan has returned for 2022, but rather than using a Jaguar XJ220 V6, Cosworth Formula 1 engine or Ford GT40 V8 as did its predecessors, the Supervan 4 is a mega-powered showcase for what is possible with an electric drivetrain.
The new Supervan is loosely based on the recently revealed Ford E-Transit Custom - although only really in name and basic silhouette. Because while that road-going van is likely to be offered with 265bhp in its most potent form, the new one-off creation starring at Goodwood Festival of Speed packs almost eight times that.
Ford quotes an output of 1973bhp – as much as the Lotus Evija – from the quad-motor powertrain and says the Supervan will get from 0-62mph in less than two seconds, far quicker than any of the three previous Supervans. Power comes from a 50kWh battery mounted midships – as were the engines in the combustion Supervans – for optimal weight distribution and it can be charged in just 45 minutes using a standard fast charger.
The powertrain can be operated in one of five modes: Road, Track, Drag, Drift and Rally, with differing power delivery characteristics depending on the intended use. There is also a pit-lane speed limiter and an intriguingly named 'tyre cleaning mode', which locks one axle while spinning the other to create "impressive burnouts" but also to "help clean and warm the tyres before performance runs".
The Supervan 4's capabilities will be showcased at Goodwood by Romain Dumas, who has set record times at the Nürburgring, Pikes Peak and Goodwood hillclimb using Volkswagen's retired ID R electric racing prototype.
The Supervan 4 is a showpiece for the newly hived-off Ford Pro commercial vehicle division, but the engineering work is all courtesy of Ford Performance and Austrian electrified rallying outfit Stard.
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Sandwich, Newspaper and drink at the bottom of the windscreen?, yep, that's Transit!, this is wild, wonder what time it will do up the hill?
The white van drivers who spend their days making hand gestures to EV drivers are going to struggle to compute. "But it's electric, must hate, but it's a Supervan, must love, but it's electric... but it..pft"