Ford unveils 1000kW electric Mustang drag car

Saturday, 25 April 2020

Is Ford's 1000kW Mustang Cobra Jet the future of drag racing?

Ever since 2008 when Ford celebrated the 40th anniversary of the legendary Ford Mustang Cobra Jet drag car, Ford Performance has offered limited batches of the factory-prepped turn-key drag car built using a stock Mustang body shell, but with with blistering amounts of power.

The last one was a run of 68 in 2018 which was aimed directly at the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon (even though the Cobra Jet isn't street legal like the Dodge) and packed a 5.2-litre supercharged V8 good for 'a mid-8-second quarter mile, while topping 150mph (241kmh)' according to Ford. Or 'just faster' than the Demon, in other words.

Now the company has revealed a new twist on the legendary Cobra Jet formula - the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 prototype that is fully electric. And Ford expects it to be faster than the last petrol-powered Cobra Jet as well.

The all-electric Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 pumps out a massive 1000kW of power.

The company projects that the Cobra Jet 1400 will crush the quarter-mile in the low-8-second range at more than 170mph (274kmh).

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Like the petrol-powered Cobra Jet, the 1400 uses a standard Mustang body shell.

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As well as all that power, the electric Cobra Jet also produces a colossal 1500Nm of torque.

The battery-powered Mustang Cobra Jet 1400's name indicates the massive amount of power it pumps out - more than 1,400 horsepower (1,044kW) is expected, as well as more than 1,500Nm of instant torque, which Ford says will 'demonstrate the capabilities of an electric powertrain in one of the most demanding race environments'. Which we can't disagree with, really.

'Ford has always used motorsport to demonstrate innovation,' said Dave Pericak, Global Director, Ford Icons.

'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.

'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.'

And right there, of course, is Ford's reason for the one-off electric Cobra Jet - associating the Mustang name with EV performance before the Mach-E lands.

Still, marketing aside, the Cobra Jet 1400 is a seriously impressive piece of kit.

Ford Performance has teamed up with several specialised suppliers for the project, including MLe Racecars (vehicle builder, designer, integrator and tuner), Watson Engineering (chassis support and development, roll cage builder), AEM EV (software and motor calibration and controls) and Cascadia (inverter and motor supplier).

'This project was a challenge for all of us at Ford Performance, but a challenge we loved jumping into,' said Mark Rushbrook, global director for Ford Performance Motorsports.

'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.

'This has been a fantastic project to work on, and we hope the first of many coming from our team at Ford Performance Motorsports.'

Ford Performance is continuing to test the Cobra Jet 1400 ahead of its world debut later this year at a drag racing event where 'fans, media and competitors alike will get to meet the race car, as well as see exactly what it's capable of up on the asphalt.'

Sadly, unlike the V8 Cobra Jet, you won't be able to buy the 1400, as Ford Performance says it is just a one-off prototype. For now, at least.