Racing improves the electric Mustang breed

On Futurride, we recently reviewed Ford Motor Co.’s impending launch of its electric Mustang, the Mach-E SUV. The market for electrified vehicles is uncertain (as is most everything else due to COVID-19). However, how do industry incumbents looking to make a business out of electrification drum up interest, especially for skeptical U.S. consumers? Some go racing, or at least demonstrate exciting racecars, like Ford.

Mach-E 1400

In July, Ford Performance showed the all-electric Mustang Mach-E 1400, a one-off prototype developed in collaboration with RTR Vehicles to demonstrate the performance possibilities of electric propulsion. The racer makes about 1400 hp (1043 kW) from its seven motors and ultra-high-performance battery. It is designed to challenge perceptions of what electric vehicles can do with performance tuning and advanced technology.

“Now is the perfect time to leverage electric technology, learn from it, and apply it to our lineup,” Ron Heiser, Chief Program Engineer, Mustang Mach-E, said at the time. “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,” added Vaughn Gittin Jr., RTR Vehicles Founder. “This experience is like nothing you’ve ever imagined, except for maybe a magnetic roller coaster.”

Ford and RTR developed and built the Mach-E 1400 off a production Mach-E GT body-in-white, the chassis and powertrain was developed for a multitude of setups after 10,000 h of collaboration. The team used many of the same tools Ford uses for its race cars and production programs.

Aerodynamics were optimized with a focus on cooling ducts, front splitter, dive planes, and rear wing—with one result being more than 2300 lb (1043 kg) of downforce at 160 mph (257 km/h).

The seven motors represent five more than on the production Mach-E GT. Three are attached to the front differential and four are attached to the rear in pancake style. A single driveshaft connects the differentials. The arrangement makes for a huge range of adjustability to set the car up for everything from drifting to high-speed track racing.

“The challenge was controlling the extreme levels of power provided by the seven motors,” said Mark Rushbrook, Motorsports Director, Ford Performance.

The chassis and powertrain are set up to allow the team to investigate different layouts—rear-, all-, or front-wheel drive—and their effects on energy consumption and performance. Drift and track setups have completely different front-end configurations; control arms and steering changes allow for extreme steering angles in drifting. Power delivery can be split evenly between front and rear axles, or completely sent to one or the other.

The installed 56.8-kW·h battery pack is made up of nickel manganese cobalt pouch cells for ultra-high performance and high discharge rate. It is cooled during charging using a di-electric coolant, decreasing the time needed between runs.

A regenerative braking system, combined with ABS and stability control, integrates with the Brembo foundational system. A handbrake system designed for drifting integrates with powertrain controls to enable power shut off to the rear motors.

The Mach-E 1400 is also intended to serve as a test bed for new materials. For instance, the hood is made of organic composite fibers, a lightweight alternative to the carbon fiber that comprises the rest of the vehicle.

Check out the all-electric prototype in action at https://bit.ly/2HQvjNI.

Cobra Jet 1400

The Mach-E 1400 is not the only Ford racecar aimed at promoting electric power for the Mustang. It was preceded earlier in 2020 by the all-electric Mustang Cobra Jet 1400. Revealed in April, that car was designed to crush the quarter-mile sprint in the low-8-s range at more than 170 mph (273 km/h).

Like the Mach-E 1400, the Cobra Jet 1400 delivers around 1400 hp. Torque comes in at over 1100 ft·lb (1491 N·m).

“Electric powertrains give us a completely new kind of performance and the all-electric Cobra Jet 1400 is one example of pushing new technology to the absolute limit,” Dave Pericak, Global Director, Ford Icons, said at the time. “We’re excited to showcase what’s possible in an exciting year when we also have the all-electric Mustang Mach-E joining the Mustang family.”

The car prototype represents another opportunity to advance Mustang heritage and performance while simultaneously incorporating some of the most advanced technology coming to Ford’s future powertrains. It honors the original Cobra Jet that first dominated drag strips in the late 1960s.

“We saw the Cobra Jet 1400 project as an opportunity to start developing electric powertrains in a race car package that we already had a lot of experience with, so we had performance benchmarks we wanted to match and beat right now,” said Rushbrook.

Helping in that effort was a team that included some key suppliers. MLe Racecars was the vehicle builder, designer, integrator, and tuner. Watson Engineering provided chassis support and development, and was the roll-cage builder. AEM EV supplied software and motor calibration and controls. Cascadia Motion, also a supplier to the Elation Freedom hypercar (see our coverage at https://futurride.com/2020/11/23/elation-comes-out-of-stealth-with-freedom/), contributed the inverter and motor.

In September, the Cobra Jet 1400 prototype made its public debut at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, IN, with a quarter-mile in 8.27 s at 168 mph (270 km/h). In private development testing, it reached a peak 1502 hp (1120 kW) at the wheel. Four Cascadia Motion PN-250-DZR inverters were coupled to a pair of DS-250-115 inverters. The motor-inverter packages run at 800 V and up to 700 A, with maximum output of about 350 kW per motor.

“Our fans are fascinated by horsepower in all forms, and the electrification of an iconic vehicle like the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 shows that innovation at Ford Motor Co. never rests,” said Brad Gerber, V.P. sales and chief development officer, NHRA.

Carbon neutrality by 2050

The Mach-E and Cobra Jet efforts are aimed at promoting Ford’s electrification and broader sustainability efforts.

The company’s Bob Holycross, Vice President and Chief Sustainability, Environment, and Safety Officer, and Cynthia Williams, Global Director, Sustainability, Homologation, and Compliance, participated in a virtual fireside chat hosted by Rod Lache, Managing Director of Wolfe Research, in July. They discussed Ford’s announcement of a new goal for the company to be carbon neutral by 2050 made in conjunction with the company’s release of its 21st annual Sustainability Report. For more info, visit https://ford.to/39zB2To.

In support of the sustainability goal, Ford plans to deliver a portfolio of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and all-electric vehicles to meet its customers’ evolving needs and preferences, focusing on China, Europe, and North America. These include the all-electric Mustang Mach-E, an all-new Lincoln Aviator plug-in hybrid, and the all-electric Ford Transit commercial van coming for the 2022 model year.

To make charging an effortless experience, Ford is offering all-electric vehicle customers in North America access to the continent’s largest EV public charging network. It offers more than 13,500 places to charge and more than 40,000 charge plugs—more than any other automotive manufacturer, claims the automaker. Through the Ionity consortium, Ford is also building a network of 400 fast-charging stations in key locations across Europe.

This is all a part of Ford’s more than $11.5 billion investment in EVs through 2022.

More about the production Ford Mustang Mach-E: