Remember the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400? The special one-off factory-built dragster was designed in parallel to the Mach-E 1400 to showcase Ford’s electric power capabilities with 1,400 hp at the wheels (as the name suggests) in a bid to market the new Mustang Mach-E road car. There’s only one problem: it doesn’t make 1,400 hp.
In a recent development test at the drag strip, the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 prototype blazed through the quarter-mile in just 8.27 seconds, reaching a top speed of 270.4 km/h (168 mph) at the finish line. For metric folks like us, that’s about 402 metres, and just know that this is very, very quick – and it does it eerily quietly.
The development team also found that the Cobra Jet 1400 prototype actually reached a peak horsepower output of 1,502 hp at the wheels, far exceeding the original target of 1,400. The torque figure should also exceed the original planned figure of 1,491 Nm, though Ford did not disclose the figure. Just look at the thing leap off the starting line!
Ford Performance Motorsports global director Mark Rushbrook said, “Since revealing the car, we’ve continued to fine-tune it and now know we’re just scratching the surface of what we may be able to achieve with this much electric horsepower in a drag racing setting.”
To achieve the bonkers output figures, Ford Performance collaborated with Cascadia Motion to develop its specialised electric powertrain, which uses four electric motors that can spin up to 10,000 revolutions per minute. These motor-inverter packages run on 800 volt power and at over 700 amps, and are capable of making nearly 470 hp per motor.
Ford Performance also employed the help of AEM-EV to develop the control algorithm in putting the power onto the ground, alongside MLe Racecars and Watson Engineering for the chassis development.
“It’s been a great but challenging project for all of us at Ford Performance,” added Rushbrook. “The opportunities to learn with the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400, as well as the Mustang Mach-E 1400 we recently introduced, gives us great insight into what may be possible in high-performance all-electric vehicles for Ford going forward.”
The Ford Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 (time to rename it, eh?) will make its first public appearance at the US NHRA Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis this weekend. Ford NHRA Funny Car Driver Bob Tasca III will pilot the prototype in showcase runs, going up against the fossil-fuel-powered Mustang Cobra Jets driven by two-time Funny Car champion and FOX broadcaster Tony Pedregon.
IMAGE GALLERY
