Edna the All-Electric Van Races a Ferrari and a Tesla
Fred Lambert, electrek.co
July 2016
Atieva, a well-funded electric car startup led on the engineering side by Peter Rawlinson, former Tesla VP and Model S Chief Engineer, introduced today its first prototype, Edna, an all-electric van with supercar-like performance.
The vehicle is used to showcase the company’s all-electric platform, which will be first commercialized in a luxury sedan and not a van, but in the meantime, Atieva benchmarked the van against a Ferrari and a Tesla Model S.
The startup describes the platform powering Edna:
Under Edna’s skin are two electric motors, two sets of power electronics, two gearboxes, one battery capable of storing 87 kWh of energy and outputting over 900 horsepower, plus all of the software to make the components play nicely together. With Edna we are able to test various aspects of the powertrain system, including motor control algorithms, regenerative braking behaviors, accelerator pedal feel, and cooling strategies, to name a few.
Where Did This 900-Horsepower Electric Van Come From? Atieva is an electric vehicle startup with a crazy fast van.
The van is able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just over 3 seconds – beating several supercars, including the Ferrari and the Tesla Model S in the video Atieva released today – seen below. To be fair, there’s a version of the Model S that can accelerate quicker, Model S P90D with Ludicrous mode, but it doesn’t look like the startup used this version of the vehicle for the drag race.
Here’s the video of the race:
Atieva is working to ready its all-electric platform to bring the sedan to market as soon as 2018. Two luxury crossovers are planned to follow in the lineup in 2020 and 2021.
The company is planning to build a car factory in California as evidenced by their application for a tax relief with the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority. The agency approved the company for a project to build a $530 million electric vehicle plant in the state.
Atieva improves its all-electric van, tests it against BMW i8 and Viper
Fred Lambert, electrek.co
August 3, 2016
If Atieva wasn’t able to convince you that it has an impressive all-electric powertrain by achieving a 0 to 60 mph acceleration in just over 3 seconds… in a van, the startup might be able to change your mind now that it managed to bring it down under 3 seconds – 2.94 seconds to be exact.
The company explains:
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 new improvements over 100 mph also helped Edna achieve a 1/4 mile time of 11.3 seconds at 117 mph.
For the first tests, the company put the van against a Tesla Model S and a Ferrari, this time, it races a BMW i8 and a Dodge Viper:
Let’s not forget that Edna is just a prototype body for the powertrain. Atieva intends its first vehicle to be a sedan, which the company claims could make it to market as soon as in 2018. I’m curious to see what they can do with this powertrain in a sedan with potentially a considerable weight reduction.
The company says that under its current form, the powertrain can store 87 kWh of energy and has an output of more than 900 horsepower.
