Atieva updates its all-electric van Edna, now 0-60 in 2.7s, beats everything but Tesla Model S

After first unveiling its all-electric van Edna, a test mule for its electric powertrain, and benchmarking it against a Tesla Model S earlier this year, Atieva made some upgrades and tested it against a BMW i8 and a Viper.

The electric car startup is back to the dragstrip with a new (3rd) version of its prototype, which is equipped with a new high-power inverter, and the vehicle can now perform a 0-60 mph run in 2.74 seconds.

It was put to the test against a series of vehicles, which the van managed to all beat with the exception of a couple of Tesla Model S sedans.

Edna’s powertrain is equipped with a 87 kWh battery pack and has an output of more than 900 horsepower.

Atieva invited people to bring their cars to Crows Landing and put them to the test against the latest version of Edna.

The van managed to beat the Mustang, BMW and several other vehicles, but the two Model S’s that showed up were too quick, which is understandable considering we are talking about a van.

Here’s the video:

What is most impressive here is not only that Atieva managed to make a van accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds, but that they improved the performance of the powertrain from 3.08 seconds to 2.94 seconds to  2.74 seconds in just a few months.

Atieva says that it should be the last major iteration of the powertrain and the vehicle will go to its ‘Alpha Prototype’ phase soon.

Now 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. It will be interesting to see what they can do with this powertrain in a more aerodynamic sedan with potentially a considerable weight reduction.