Ford Performance chief engineer declares ‘white space’ opportunity exists for fun-to-drive electric cars
The top engineer at Ford’s go-fast tuning division believes a great battery-electric driver’s car has yet to be developed.
Ford Performance global chief engineer Carl Widmann told carsales a fun-to-drive EV was an automotive “white space” waiting to be filled and confirmed he and his team were trying to figure out how to do just that.
“Everyone likes tooting their horn in the electric space, but are any of them as fun to drive as a [Ford Performance] Mustang GT350 or a Ranger Raptor?” he asked.
“No-one has done it … So you would say there is a white space.
“It’s an opportunity, but if it was an easy opportunity someone might have done already.”
Widmann clearly believes ballistic EVs like the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S Plaid can’t match the driving excitement delivered by combustion-engined performance vehicles such as the Blue Oval’s flagship, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.
He says the Porsche Taycan is impressive, but at a high price: “Yes, a $200,000 vehicle is getting close, but you can buy two GT500s for that.”
Widmann was less complimentary when asked to assess the Tesla: “That’s probably not nice for me to say, so I’ll probably pass on that one.”
The next EV on Ford Performance’s assessment agenda is the BMW i4, which in M50 guise offers M4 levels of acceleration from dual e-motors.
“What we are trying to do right now is understand what is out there and find out if any of them do deliver on that experience,” Widmann said.
He nominated the omission of the internal combustion engine’s characteristics and sound, the loss of gear changing and the long wheelbase (to fit battery packs) of EVs as potential issues that mitigate against EVs attaining elite standing.
“There is a lot of basic technical aspects and you can kinda decompose ‘fun to drive’ in its technical aspects,” he said. “But it’s really trying to understand in that space [why] these people have not been able to deliver that.”
There’s plenty of pressure on Widmann and his crew to unlock answers to the fun-to-drive EV conundrum as Ford is committing to a wholesale changeover to EVs in the next decade.
Among the first wave of all-new models is the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition – a high-performance crossover that pushes out 358kW and 860Nm of torque and can reach 60mph (97km/h) from rest in just 3.5 seconds.
The Blue Oval has split its empire into an EV-focused Ford Model e, ICE-focused Ford Blue and the commercial division Ford Pro. In Europe, Ford will be zero-emissions by 2030.
All that means the ICE models that Ford Performance has built its reputation on will eventually go away and it will have to dive deep into electrification and figure out the fun factor.
As Widmann says: “Ford Performance models are discretionary rather than necessary purchases that are intended to “put a smile on your face on a shitty day.”
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Keyword: Ford: Porsche and Tesla EVs can’t match Mustang GT