Converted to electric drive Mercedes-Benz Vito commercial van, comes the powertrain test vehicle "Edna", which was developed by Atieva, a California-based start-up backed by Chinese funds. Edna is one of the fastest cars in the world today – at least when it comes to accelerating. During the last testing session the tuned up electric van reached 60 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hours) in 3.08 seconds.
With such acceleration Edna beat both the Corvette (Dodge Viper) and BMW i8 that participated in the test race. Moreover, it would almost win over the electric Tesla S as well, if the brand hadn't just recently introduced its strognest variant, the P100D Ludicrous that reaches 100 kilometers per hour in just 2.5 seconds.
Testing also focused on a ¼ mile and 1/8 mile sprint. The quarter-mile in Edna was accomplished in 11.3 seconds at 117 MPH (188.29 km/h), while a 1/8 mile sprint resulted in 7.2 seconds at 99 mph (159.33 km/h).
To share a few more bits of information about Edna here: under the known Mercedes-Benz Vito there 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 and, of course, software that is in charge of the entire powertrain, making notes in order to be used by Atieva for further development of the electric vehicle.