Electric Ford SuperVan laps Nürburgring faster than Mustang GTD, Corvette ZR1X

Posted by Talbot Payne on August 25, 2025

Ford Motor Co.’s Transit van has sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Ten million of those sales have been in Europe, where 1 in 5 vans are Transits. They are used by utility companies, delivery shops, landscapers. So, naturally, Ford took it to Germany’s 12.9-mile, 154-turn Nürburgring, the world’s most demanding race track, to set a lap time.

Not just any Ford Transit van. The electric, 2,000-horsepower, winged, four-motor SuperVan 4.2 track monster.

Fresh off obliterating the famed Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado with the second-fastest time recorded, SuperVan set a blistering Nürburgring lap of 6.48.4 minutes. That’s faster than the Mustang GTD, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X or Porsche 911 GT2 RS supercars. It’s the ninth fastest lap ever recorded at Nürburgring in any kind of vehicle.

The Ford SuperVan puts down 2,950 pound-feet of torque through all-wheel-drive (Picture from SuperVan's record closed-wheel car lap at Bathurst track at New South Wales, Australia, 2024).

The Ford SuperVan puts down 2,950 pound-feet of torque through all-wheel-drive (Picture from SuperVan’s record closed-wheel car lap at Bathurst track at New South Wales, Australia, 2024).

EDGE Photographics/Mark Horsburgh

Though admittedly a winged race car with fat, slick tires, as much downforce as an IndyCar, and driven by pro racer Romain Dumas — the breadbox-shaped panel van is still a brick on wheels. With SuperVan 4.2, Ford has set out to prove that — when equipped with its state-of-the-art electric tech — even a Transit van can compete with Ford’s best gas-powered production supercars.

The carbon-fiber-body, tube-frame Frankenstein’s-chassis van shares its DNA with other so-called “electric demonstrators,” including the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck and Super Mustang Mach-E prototypes. SuperTruck also made a Pikes Peak run last year clocking a lap time just shy of SuperVan’s achievement. EVs thrive up the 14,000-foot-high mountain where the lack of air starves internal combustion engines.

“Our electric vehicle demonstrator program has become an integral part of our broader Ford Performance racing portfolio,” Ford said in a press release. “It is here that we can give our engineers, designers and aerodynamicists a clean sheet of paper and tell them to dream big. Here, we can explore the boundaries of what is possible, all with the aim of bringing these learnings back in to both our race programs and our road programs.”

The Ford SuperVan is a so-called EV Demonstrator to explore what battery tech can do on the race track (Picture from SuperVan's record closed-wheel car lap at Bathurst track at New South Wales, Australia, 2024).
The Ford SuperVan is a so-called EV Demonstrator to explore what battery tech can do on the race track (Picture from SuperVan’s record closed-wheel car lap at Bathurst track at New South Wales, Australia, 2024).

Mark Horsburgh/EDGE Photographics

What makes the SuperVan’s Nürburgring time impressive is that it was accomplished at normal altitudes. Though heavy for a race car at about 4,000 pounds, its weight is on par with the production Corvette ZR1X. SuperVan’s 2,950 pound-feet of torque translates into brutal, instant acceleration off corners.

As seen on a video of SuperVan’s lap, the EV racer is then able to maintain 163 miles an hour over long straightaway sections — though that speed is well shy of, say, the Corvette’s 200 mph or the Mustang GTD’s 187 mph. ICE cars grow stronger at high speeds as they breathe in more air and their sleek aerodynamics work better than square vans. Even a caped SuperVan.

The 1,250-horse Corvette ZR1X set the fastest American production car record around the ‘Ring this summer at 6:49.3 minutes just nipping the Mustang GTD at 6:52.1. A Porsche 911 GT2 RS set a 6:43.3-minute lap with the rare, $2.7 million Mercedes-AMG One (only 275 built) holding the production record at 6:29.1 minutes.

Ford isn’t the only manufacturer with track-focused EV demonstrator programs. China’s Xiaomi brand took a SU7 Ultra Prototype around the so-called Green Hell at 6:22.1 minutes, while the Volkswagen ID.R set a lap of 6:05.33 minute (the ID.R is also the only racer faster up Pikes Peak than SuperVan). The V-dub is the second fastest time behind the absolute record set by the hybrid Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo race car at 5:19.5.

SuperVan has also set a record at Bathurst Speedway in Australia, Southeast Asia’s most legendary track.

The Ford SuperVan has a full race car cockpit (Picture from SuperVan's record closed-wheel car lap at Bathurst track at New South Wales, Australia, 2024).
The Ford SuperVan has a full race car cockpit (Picture from SuperVan’s record closed-wheel car lap at Bathurst track at New South Wales, Australia, 2024).

Ford, Ford

CEO Jim Farley, a skilled amateur race who competed in the Le Mans Mustang Challenge in France this summer, demonstrated the SuperVan’s track capabilities for media at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2024.

The Ford Nürburgring achievement is a cheeky bookend to another famed Transit lap around the Green Hell.

In 2009, professional German race driver and ‘Ring specialist Sabine Schmitz took up a challenge from Top Gear’s Jeremey Clarkson that she could lap the Nürburgring in under 10 minutes in a regular, 136-horsepower Transit van. A sub-10 minute lap is an impressive feat in a performance sedan — much less an ungainly panel truck — and Clarkson had recently crowed on the popular TV show about lapping a Jaguar S-Type (Ford owned Jaguar in 2000, incidentally) just under the 10-minute mark.

The Ford SuperVan boasts 2,000 horsepower and weights about 4,000 pounds (Picture from SuperVan's record closed-wheel car lap at Bathurst track at New South Wales, Australia, 2024).
The Ford SuperVan boasts 2,000 horsepower and weights about 4,000 pounds (Picture from SuperVan’s record closed-wheel car lap at Bathurst track at New South Wales, Australia, 2024).

Ford, Ford

“I can go faster than that in a Ford Transit,” Schmitz bet Clarkson and nearly succeeded with a mighty 10.08-second lap that was the Transit lap record.

Until the 2,000-horsepower SuperVan blew it away.

“It wasn’t until now that we had the right Transit, the right driver and the right conditions to see what might be possible,” Ford said in its release.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.

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