The Ford Pro Electric SuperVan’s interior includes a full roll cage and racing seats to FIA standards for safety, as well as a large SYNC touchscreen taken directly from Ford’s production vehicles such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E controlling the advanced connectivity and information systems. If required, drivers can take a break from hustling the Electric SuperVan up hillclimbs and around racetracks to plot a route, find a charger, connect to WiFi and make phone calls – all via the SYNC screen.
The touchscreen also enables control of the selectable drive modes that tailor the Electric SuperVan’s torque maps, regenerative braking and control responses to suit different driving scenarios:
• Road – for rare cases of “normal” driving
• Track – for balancing speed and cornering on track with racing slick tyres
• Drag – for maximum acceleration on drag strips while using drag racing radial tyres
• Drift – for spectacular drifting, agility demonstrations and snow driving
• Rally – for optimum performance on tarmac and gravel rally stages with special tyres
Further performance fine-tuning is delivered by an electronics package that includes traction control, launch control, a pit-lane speed limiter and three-stage regenerative braking to return energy to the battery – similar to the L Mode function on E-Transit. At low speed, ECO Mode keeps the motors at optimal efficiency, turns the regenerative braking up to maximum and cuts drive to the rear axle. For maximum speed, an E‑Boost button puts a temporary power and torque boost at the driver’s fingertips.
A Tyre Cleaning Mode can deliver exhilarating driving displays; this new feature fully brakes one axle while spinning the other, creating impressive burnouts on the front or rear axles that help clean and warm the tyres before performance runs.
Just like a modern racing car – and Ford’s hard-working vans – the Electric SuperVan can send real-time data to software for remote vehicle management. Businesses can use Ford Pro E‑Telematics or FordPass Pro to track the health and security of their fleet; similarly, Ford Performance trackside engineers can monitor the Electric SuperVan via dedicated management software that translates live data into insights on speed, lap times and vehicle systems.
Beyond demonstrating Ford’s advanced electric vehicle and connectivity know-how, the Electric SuperVan is also a high-speed science experiment. Its demanding driving scenarios and unrestricted design concept allow Ford to push the boundaries of electric vehicle engineering and connectivity to improve its future race cars and road-going vehicles, software and services.
In the hot seat at Goodwood is Romain Dumas, the expert driver tasked with unleashing the Electric SuperVan’s full performance. Dumas’ track record in electric racing is unparalleled; he set outright records at the Goodwood and Pikes Peak hillclimbs, and also holds the electric lap record at the fearsome Nordschleife, where he won four Nürburgring 24 Hours races. Dumas’ diverse experience also includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans’ outright distance record, an FIA World Endurance Championship title, and a class victory at the Rallye Monte Carlo.