VIDEO: CAN ATIEVA'S WORK VAN (EDNA) BEAT A BRAND NEW BMW I8 AND DODGE VIPER?

In late 2015 a little-known automotive startup by the name of Atieva announced plans to compete in the electric car space. Atieva is using Mercedes-Benz vans as test mules but the powertrain being developed isn’t for a commercial vehicle. It will initially be offered in a high-performance sedan.

The powertrain features two electric motors, two sets of power electronics, two gearboxes, and one battery. The battery has a capacity of 87 kilowatt-hours and can deliver over 900 horsepower. Edna performed during a routine test session in Crows Landing, California. That session was primarily focused on 0-60 mph and ⅛ mile performance. In Round 1 of these tests Edna was able to post a best 0-60 mph time of 3.08 seconds, and a 1/8 mile time of 7.3 seconds @ 97.5 mph. More importantly, they were able to capture large quantities of data that allows them to further improve the performance of the Atieva powertrain system.

The results?

0-60 mph: 2.94 seconds
1/8 mile: 7.2 seconds @ 99 mph
1/4 mile: 11.3 @ 117 mph

And there’s still plenty of development to be done so we could see further improvements. In addition, Atieva says its sedan will be significantly lighter than the mule, which also bodes well for future performance gains.

Atieva is linked with Chinese auto giant BAIC and was actually founded as far back as 2007 by Bernard Tse and Sam Weng. Tse is a former Tesla exec and Weng is the founder of communications firm Astoria Networks.