Ford’s 1,050kW electric SuperVan smashes three lap records at Mount Panorama
Ford’s 1,050kW electric SuperVan 4.2 has set a trio of lap records at the 6.2-kilometre Mount Panorama racetrack in Australia.
During the Thrifty Bathurst 500 event over the weekend, the SuperVan 4.2 secured the benchmark time for the quickest closed-wheel vehicle, electric vehicle, and commercial vehicle.
The battery-powered van lapped the New South Wales circuit in just 1:56.3247 with racing driver Romain Dumas at the wheel, achieving a top speed of more than 300km/h on both the Mountain Straight and Conrod Straight.
Ford sees the new benchmark time as a line in the sand, heralding a new era for electric vehicles.
“The effort and expertise it took to reset the benchmark lap time for a closed-wheel vehicle around Mount Panorama cannot be understated,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director, Ford Performance Motorsports.
“Romain Dumas worked alongside our team to innovate, learn, adapt, and the result is a time that exceeded our own expectations. There is a reason why we chose to bring SuperVan 4.2 to Mount Panorama after Pikes Peak – there is nowhere quite like it in the world.”
This is the second time Dumas has re-written the history books with SuperVan 4.2, following his record-smashing run at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb last year.
“While both are impressive mountains in their own right, Mount Panorama and Pikes Peak couldn’t be more different in their challenges,” Dumas said.
“This is the first time I have driven SuperVan 4.2 faster than 300km/h, and we left nothing on the table as we pushed for the fastest lap possible. No one has ever driven a vehicle like SuperVan 4.2 around Mount Panorama, and certainly not this quickly!”
Ford Performance motorsport manager Sriram Pakkam said the team worked tirelessly for two weeks to make the electric van as quick as possible.
“The global Ford Performance network was activated to ensure SuperVan 4.2 was as capable as possible. Almost immediately Mount Panorama challenged both car and team, but we were able to implement a number of key changes that improved our capabilities and brought the lap times down every session.”
Ford Australia CEO Andrew Birkic said the lessons learned from SuperVan’s running in Australia will have a direct flow into Ford’s next generation of electric road cars.