To help convince car enthusiasts that electric vehicles can be fun to drive, and to hype interest as well as in the electric Mustang Mach-E, Ford and Vaughn Gittin Jr. of RTR Vehicles have unveiled the one-off Mach-E 1400 prototype. The car takes its name from the 1,400 horsepower available from its seven electric motors and “ultra-high-performance” battery.
At 160 mph, Ford says the car’s aerodynamics will produce more than 2,300 pounds of downforce.
The car, “designed,” said Ford, “to challenge perceptions of what electric vehicles can do with performance tuning and advanced technology,” will make its official debut at an upcoming NASCAR race.
“Ford introduces Mustang Mach-E 1400, an all-electric road rocket that shows just how much performance can be harnessed without using a drop of gas,” the automaker said in its news release.
Combined with the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400, which also offers 1,400 electrified horsepower, “this one-off Mustang Mach-E with its seven electric motors and high downforce is ready for the track, drag strip or gymkhana course – anywhere it can show how electric propulsion promises extreme Mustang performance.”
Ford said the Mach-E 1400 was developed in collaboration with RTR and built off a Mustang Mach-E GT body-in-white.
“The chassis and powertrain work together for a multitude of setups offering capability unlike any other vehicle,” Ford added.
“Now is the perfect time to leverage electric technology, learn from it, and apply it to our lineup,” said Ron Heiser, chief program engineer, Mustang Mach-E. “Mustang Mach-E is going to be fun to drive, just like every other Mustang before it, but Mustang Mach-E 1400 is completely insane, thanks to the efforts of Ford Performance and RTR.”
“Getting behind the wheel of this car has completely changed my perspective on what power and torque can be,” Ford quotes Gittin Jr., RTR Vehicles founder. “This experience is like nothing you’ve ever imagined, except for maybe a magnetic roller coaster.”
The car has seven motors, five more than Mustang Mach-E GT. Ford adds that the Mach-E will be available around the end of this year.
“Three are attached to the front differential and four to the rear in pancake style, with a single driveshaft connecting them to the differentials, which have a huge range of adjustability to set the car up for everything from drifting to high-speed track racing,” Ford said.
“The challenge was controlling the extreme levels of power provided by the seven motors,” said Mark Rushbrook, motorsports director, Ford Performance. “Mustang Mach-E 1400 is a showcase of the art of the possible with an electric vehicle.”
“The chassis and powertrain are set up to allow the team to investigate different layouts and their effects on energy consumption and performance, including rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive,” Ford said.
“Drift and track setups have completely different front end configurations like control arms and steering changes to allow for extreme steering angles in drifting. Power delivery can be split evenly between front and rear, or completely to one or the other. Downforce is targeted at more than 2,300 lb. at 160 mph.”
The 56.8-kilowatt-hour battery has nickel manganese cobalt “pouch” cells.
The car also has an electronic brake booster integrated to allow series regenerative braking combined with ABS and stability control to optimize the braking system. There’s also a hydraulic handbrake system for drifting.
Ford also revealed that the car is a test bed for materials such as the organic composite fibers, an alternative to carbon fiber, used in the car’s hood.
How much?