It’s the return of the Ford SuperVan at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, as one of the world’s favourite commercial vehicles goes under the knife for the fourth time in its tenure. The result, as always, is a beautiful abomination. Powered in past generations by a 7.0-litre GT40 engine, a Ford-Cosworth DFL Le Mans engine and a Formula 1-spec Ford-Cosworth HL, this fourth generation has more power than all three of its predecessors put together. Because a 2,000PS (1,470kW) road-legal Ford Transit is obviously a brilliant idea.
2000PS Ford Electric SuperVan revealed at FOS
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Its official name is the Ford Pro Electric SuperVan and yes, we did say 2,000PS. Developed in secret, it was a collaboration between Ford Performance and Austrian EV racing specialists STARD. While Ford says it’s a showcase for the upcoming all-electric E-Transit Custom, as you can see, it’s far from the utilitarian darling so many businesses have come to know and love, though not that far. The floorplan comes from the E-Transit you’ll see in dealers soon, though on the SuperVan it’s a steel spaceframe lattice draped in sculped Ford Cologne-designed carbon bodywork that sprouts up and out from it.
Perhaps the biggest visual difference between the SuperVan and the E-Transit you’ll be able to buy, is the enormous cutout on the SuperVan that funnels air through its shape and out the back. Yes, that eats into the storage space a little bit, but the SuperVan does have some load area, accessible via the bodyside door.
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That monster power figure comes courtesy of four electric motors which are fed by a liquid-cooled 50kWh battery. Accessible via the Ford Sync touchscreen in the cabin are a number of driving modes. Road, Track, Drag, Drift and Rally each optimise power delivery and traction control accordingly.
There’s even a tyre cleaning mode, which brakes one axle while the other one spins and it hasn’t escaped Ford’s attention that the side effect is fun, delivering ‘exhilarating driving displays’. There’s also an Eboost mode for a temporary bump in power and torque and at low speeds, Eco Mode, which bumps up regenerative braking.
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In the all-electric connected age of course the Electric SuperVan can also send real-time telematics data for monitoring and remote vehicle management. This tech will also be available to buyers of the roadgoing vans, who can use Ford Pro ETelematics and FordPass Pro to monitor their fleets. So yes, this 2,000PS Hill-ripping monster has relevance to real buyers. Who’d have thought?
The inside is as you’d expect, pretty spartan, besides the Sync touchscreen, though there are plenty of cameras so that spectators will get every angle as the SuperVan makes its runs. Yes, you’ll see it first, running at full speed with none other than Le Mans legend Romain Dumas at the wheel, on the FOS Hill. We can’t wait to see what this utterly bonkers machine can do.
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