Currently reading: Atieva electric car prototype out drags BMW i8 in new video

Californian-based electric car start-up demonstrates the capability of its latest powertrain by racing an i8 and a Dodge Viper

Californian-based electric car start-up Atieva has generated a second video featuring its Mercedes-Benz Viano based driveline prototype - Edna, as Atieva officials refer to it.

Built to test driveline components, including two proprietry electric motors delivering a combined 900bhp, for Atieva’s first production electric car, the heavily modified Viano is claimed to reach 60mph in just 2.94sec and run the standing quarter mile (400 metres) in 11.3sec reaching a speed of 117mph – performance figures that shame all but the fastest supercars on sale today.

Shot at Crows Landing Airport in California, the promotional video features the Atieva prototype in a drag race against a Dodge Viper and a BMW i8.

In an earlier video, Edna was pitched against a Ferrari FF and a Tesla Model S.

After filming of the video was completed, the prototype’s 87kWh lithium ion battery held sufficient electrical charge for it to be driven 90 miles back to Atieva's Menlo Park headquarters in San Francisco without recharging, according to the company's website.

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Overdrive 5 August 2016

Not only is this not a 'white

Not only is this not a 'white van' in the true sense of the word, but nor is the driver a true 'white van man', otherwise he would've cut up at least one of the other two cars in this exerise.
275not599 4 August 2016

I think we have all got the

I think we have all got the message. Electric motors generate maximum torque from the get go. There are more important considerations than violent acceleration in optimum conditions.
xxxx 5 August 2016

message

275not599 wrote:

I think we have all got the message. Electric motors generate maximum torque from the get go. There are more important considerations than violent acceleration in optimum conditions.

not on this drag strip on this day

LP in Brighton 4 August 2016

Performance isn't a problem for electric cars

Range, cost, battery longevity, charging time, weight and low temperature operation are the issues. It would have been more impressive if they'd built an affordable vehicle that could be driven a couple of hundred miles. This is just a publicity stunt.
Bob Cholmondeley 4 August 2016

LP in Brighton wrote:

LP in Brighton wrote:

This is just a publicity stunt.

Exactly and it's got people talking.