Speed sells. When Tesla launches a new vehicle or updates an existing vehicle, the car company often leads with a 0-60mph time. These numbers often outclass those from gasoline cars thanks to how electric motors deliver power. These 0-60 times are often irrelevant to daily driving, and yet, Tesla, like most automakers, sees them as a critical marketable statistic.
Ford today unveiled a special edition of its forthcoming four-door electric Mustang. It’s fast because, as mentioned above, speed sells. Seven electric motors produce a total of 1,400 HP, which to put into layman’s terms, is a shit-ton of power.
Ford doesn’t intend to sell this example. The car company says this vehicle was built to explore the limits of electric vehicle technology — and, clearly, to show it off to the public.
The upcoming Ford Mustang Mach-E will come in a performance trim called the GT. While it will only have two electric motors instead of seven, it won’t be a slouch. The two motors will produce 459 HP, which is plenty of power to thrill.
This is Ford’s second special edition Mustang Mach-E. The Mustang Cobra Jet was unveiled earlier this year, and sports 1,400 HP, but does so in a different configuration that’s primarily designed to go fast in a straight line.
These concept Mustangs build excitement from key demographics, much like how Tesla’s Insane and Ludicrous modes make excitement around its vehicles. Ford is in a tight spot with the Mustang Mach-E, and it needs to show buyers that this four-door electric vehicle is worthy of the Mustang nameplate. And what are Mustangs known for? Affordable excitement.
The Mustang Mach-E is set to be Ford’s first modern electric vehicle, and so far, Ford is following a different path than General Motors when it launched its first electric vehicle, the Chevy Bolt. By all accounts, the Chevy Bolt is an excellent electric vehicle with a low price tag, decent range and quick speed. But Chevy positioned it as a boring people mover. The Mustang Mach-E has similar people-moving capacity, but Ford upped the excitement with the Mustang name and marketing of the performance.
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There’s an old automotive adage that says says winning in races produces sales. “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” spoke of a time when NASCAR vehicles were similar to their road-worthy counterparts. That’s no longer the case. NASCAR vehicles rarely share any parts with what’s available on a dealer’s lot, but the adage is still relevant. Instead of NASCAR, automakers are looking at winning in the world of YouTube, where views are as critical as a checkered flag.
Tesla’s first vehicle was a reworked Lotus coupe. At the time, most electric cars were designed for moving people and goods. They were utilitarian. The Tesla Roadster had little utility but had a lot of excitement. From there, Tesla moved on to the Model S and quickly built out its performance capability by adding duel motors and tuning them to beat a Porsche to 60 miles per hour. When launching Tesla’s Model X SUV, the automaker often showed it beating supercars in drag races, because, once again, speed sells even if owners rarely use the power.
