An elephant on laughing gas. An airplane coming in for landing. The podracers from Star Wars: Episode I. These are the closest equivalents I can get to the sound of Ford’s new Mustang Mach-E 1400, but you really need to hear it for yourself:
If you’re wondering where you’ve heard the term “Mustang Mach-E” before, it’s because Ford announced the SUV back in November as its first all-electric production vehicle. (Yes, Ford is building a Mustang SUV.) You can actually order one right now, but deliveries aren’t expected to start until the end of the year — and to build hype for the official release, Ford went ahead and built this completely insane one-off prototype.
The EV you see above does start with a Mustang Mach-E GT body, the most expensive trim from the new SUV lineup, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. The purpose of the one-of-a-kind racer, developed by Ford Performance and RTR Vehicles, is “to demonstrate the performance possibilities of electric propulsion.” As such, the team crammed in seven motors, an ultra-high performance battery, all manner of aerodynamic accessories, among other things, and in return the car puts out a bonkers 1,400 horsepower and “more than 2,300 lb. of downforce at 160 mph.”
Now that interstellar sound (sort of) makes sense.
It’s all very exciting, but what’s the point? Anyone who has paid even the slightest attention to electric vehicles in the last decade knows that EV technology has the potential to absolutely demolish the gas-powered counterparts (hell, car guy Jay Leno was practically drooling while driving the first Tesla Roadster all the way back in 2008). But as Ford makes clear, it’s trying to capture the attention of all the people who have written off EVs.
In the press release, Ford writes that the Mustang Mach-E 1400 “is set to debut at a NASCAR race soon.” In other words, they’re just beginning to make their pitch to the gas guzzlers of America. Godspeed to ‘em.
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