Kyle Johnson
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Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 is Necessary Insanity

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Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype
The Mustang Mach-E 1400 emerges from the smoke like a donut dragon
Photo: Ford

All too often these days, you find yourself doom scrolling through the news and muttering “that’s crazy” under your breath at every passing story. Today, if you read up on the newly revealed Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype, you’ll be saying that same thing for completely different, less doomy reasons.   


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Revealed today, the Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 is a wild-as-hell 1,400-horsepower take on the upcoming all-electric SUV. Matching the output of the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 prototype revealed in April, this one-off is fitted with seven electric motors and an ultra-high-performance 56.8-kilowatt-hour battery, enabling more than 2,300 pounds of downforce at 160 horsepower. This is the part where you say, “wow, that’s crazy.” Because that is crazy.

10,000 hours of collaboration births a horsepower monster

  • Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype
  • Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype
  • Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype
  • Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype
  • Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype

The craziness is not too surprising when you consider that the Mustang Mach-E 1400 is the result of a collaboration between Ford and RTR Vehicles. RTR founder Vaughn Gittin Jr. pilots the prototype in a super-cool video that pits the Mustang Mach-E 1400 against a range of high-powered Mustangs and highly skilled drivers.

The video features appearances by Joey Logano in a Ford NASCAR Mustang, up-and-coming phenom Hailie Deegan in a Mustang Shelby GT350R, Chelsea DeNofa in the 2020 Ford Mustang RTR, and Ken Block in the 1965 Ford Mustang Hoonicorn RTR V2. The Mustang Mach-E 1400 goes up against each vehicle in a simulated test, but it’s all really just a nice excuse to watch a bunch of cool-ass cars do cool-ass stuff.

At the end, the whole crew drifts circles around a Grabber Blue Mustang Mach-E GT, which emphasizes the major differences between the upcoming electric performance SUV and Gittin Jr.’s overhauled, low-stanced prototype. The Mustang Mach-E 1400 sports a large rear wing, front splitter, dive planes, and cooling ducts, giving it an all-around ferocious look to match its ridiculous capabilities. Frankly, if Ford offered a kit for the Mach-E that made it look closer to this prototype, some of the diehards might cool out a bit about the whole name thing.

Mustang Mach-E is going to be fun to drive,” said Mustang Mach-E Chief Program Engineer Ron Heiser, “but Mustang Mach-E 1400 is completely insane, thanks to the efforts of Ford Performance and RTR.”

Watch: Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype shows TF out

“Getting behind the wheel of this car has completely changed my perspective on what power and torque can be,” said Gittin Jr. “This experience is like nothing you’ve ever imagined, except for maybe a magnetic roller coaster.”

Three motors are attached to the front differential and with the other four pancake-style motors fixed to the rear, enabling massive torque delivery at low rpms. The differentials are connected by a highly adjustable driveshaft, and the control arms and steering also change depending on whether the Mustang Mach-E 1400 is in drift or track mode. The drivetrain is also adaptable, capable of alternating between front-wheel, rear-wheel, and all-wheel drive.

Before you go getting your hopes up that any of this will lead to a 1,400-horsepower production Mustang, Ford is only saying that the Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype “serves as a testbed for new materials.” Among those: organic composite fibers used to make the hood, which is lighter than carbon fiber.

Ford Performance Motorsports Director Mark Rushbrook does say, however, that the “Mustang Mach-E 1400 is a showcase of the art of the possible with an electric vehicle.” So hopefully the realizing of what’s possible lets Ford push beyond possibility and into reality. Because when the world is basically turning into one long doom scroll, who couldn’t use their own 1,400-horsepower electric Mustang?


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