Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype – seven electric motors, 1,400 hp; 1,044 kg of downforce at 256 km/h

Unveiled last November, the Ford Mustang Mach-E was revealed at the beginning of this month to be endowed with more power than announced at its launch. Gains are found across the board, with increases ranging from 8 hp to 14 hp. Wish to see even more power? Ford has some very keen engineers, as proven by this prototype, which has been built together with RTR Vehicles to produce some rather ludicrous figures.

Here, the Mustang Mach-E 1400 concept gets its name from its peak output of 1,400 hp from a total of seven electric motors. These are fed by a 56.8 kWh battery comprised of nickel manganese cobalt pouch cells for a high discharge rate and performance, and the battery system has been designed to be cooled during charging with a di-electric coolant that helps reduce recovery time needed between runs.

Three of the motors are mounted to the front differential and four are fitted to the rear in ‘pancake style’, with a single driveshaft connecting them to the differentials. This setup offers a great range of adjustability in order to enable a wide range of setups, from drifting to high-speed circuit driving, says Ford.

A free-for-all prototype project that isn’t hemmed in by racing or series production regulations, the Mustang Mach-E 1400 is nonetheless developed with the same tools and techniques from the Blue Oval’s motorsport and road car programmes, it says. On the aerodynamics front, focus was placed on its cooling ducts, front splitter, dive planes and rear wing and the full setup offers 1,044 kg of downforce at 256 km/h.

This chassis and powertrain configuration allows the development team to explore different layouts, such as RWD, AWD and FWD, and their effects on energy consumption and performance, while completely different front-end configurations involving steering and control arms, in order to enable the extreme steering angles used in drifting.

To this end, a hydraulic handbrake system integrates with powertrain controls to shut off the rear motors when the hydraulic handbrake is used, while an electronic brake booster is used to allow series regenerative braking combined with ABS and stability control. Overall, braking is handled by Brembo system, like that used in the Mustang GT4 racer, says Ford.

The Mustang Mach-E 1400 concept’s flexibility of configuration makes it suitable for track, drag strip or gymkhana course use, says Ford, and it is the outcome of 10,000 hours of collaboration between Ford Performance and RTR with the aim of “bridging the gap between what an electric vehicle can do, and what customers tend to believe it can do.”

The Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 concept will head to a NASCAR race soon for its debut, says Ford. As for the series production Mustang Mach-E, the fully electric SUV is slated to become available in the United States at the end of this year.

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