The Ford SuperVan 4.2 has set a new lap record at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Australia, beating all EVs and commercial vehicles ever tested there and dethroning the Mercedes-AMG GT3 as that track’s fastest vehicle ever, The Drive reports.
Just several days ago, French professional driver Jules Gounon completed a Mount Panorama lap in 1 minute 56.605 seconds, an all-time best result. Now, Romain Dumas piloting the Ford SuperVan managed the same in 1 minute 56.325 seconds. He also managed to accelerate to 300 km/h (186 mph) on some stretches of the circuit.
The SuperVan relies on three electric motors for propulsion. One is installed at the front axle and two at the rear. The combined output amounts to 1,400 PS (1,381 hp / 1,030 kW). A 50-kWh battery pack supplies the power. This may not look like much for everyday use, but is just enough for brief races.
Other than that, Ford openly admits that a Transit body is the only thing the vehicle still has in common with the van genre. It has no cargo compartment to speak of and runs on pure racecar hardware with no production van parts mixed in. It is also about twice as tall as any GT3 racer and a fair bit heavier, too. When you consider all these details, its achievement on the Mount Panorama track becomes even more impressive.