This, petrolheads, is the Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400, an all-electric race car with the sum total of 1400bhp that’s built specifically for drifting and, in the words of Ford, “to bridge the gap between what an electric vehicle can do and what customers tend to believe it can do.” Mission accomplished.
It’s a one-off, sadly, although it all works properly and does demonstrate the sort of thing that can be achieved using electric power now. Technically it’s astonishing, utilising no less than SEVEN electric motors, three of them mounted on the front differential and four on the rear axle. That means it has four-wheel drive, but also that it can be rear-wheel drive too – the ultimate drift machine – or front-wheel drive. The ultimate…erm…family runabout.
That particular setup means it can be used in all kinds of applications, either as a four-wheel drive rally type car, or a gymkhana thing, or a drag racer…anything. It follows the Mustang Cobra Jet in being a mental electric Ford, with the company clearly trying to inject some excitement into the idea of Ford zero emissions products before the inevitable slew of much more ordinary Fiesta and Focus EVs; the Mustang Cobra Jet, you may remember, also had 1400bhp and although Ford didn’t tell us at the time how that car worked, in hindsight it probably had the same drivetrain as the Mach-E here.
The other function of the Mach-E 1400 relates to the Mustang Mach-E production car specifically, which is actually quite controversial, Ford having chosen to use the legendary Mustang moniker for an electric crossover. Weird, eh? In fairness, read the stats of the Mustang Mach-E without looking at it and you’d nod along with a smile – 0-60mph in under five seconds and a 370-mile range – but aesthetically it’s a bulky looking crossover-coupe thin that’s, frankly, not that exciting.
Available to pre-order now, the Mustang Mach-E production car is a clear nod to Tesla, with a cabin focussed on a huge portrait orientation touchscreen and minimalistic else where, it’s fair to say. And a big boot. It costs from £40,000 and you’ll start seeing them on the roads in the UK late in 2021.
Back to the Mach-E 1400, it features tech that will not make it to the production car, but which is interesting all the same. Like the MASSIVE rear wing that pushes the car into the ground to the tune of 1000kg at 160mph. That’s like parking a Volkswagen Up on top of it. It’s made almost entirely of carbon fibre too, save for the bonnet which is of organic composite fibre.
Keyword: Ford makes 1400bhp Mustang Mach-E electric drift car