We’ve already take a look at Ford’s absurdly-named Mustang Cobra Jet 1400, a 1,400kW electric vehicle the American auto-maker claims can do some rather absurd things. Just how absurd is becoming clear, as Ford claims to have pushed their prototype EV up to 1,502HP (peak wheel horsepower) and busted through the 9-second mark over the quarter mile (around 400m). It manages the drag strip at just 8.27 seconds.
Gotta go fast
Which, if you check out the promotional video of the Mustang Cobra Jet, seems totally legit. The electric vehicle takes off from the start of a drag strip like an overtuned monster from 2007’s Need for Speed: Pro Street, lifting on two wheels before dropping back to the track and rocketing over the finish line. Its top speed over the section is 168mph, or 270km/h — which is a crazy speed to hit traffic light to traffic light.
Mark Rushbrook, global director at Ford Performance Motorsports, 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.” Which only confirms that you probably won’t be seeing this monster in traffic any time soon. That’s… probably a good thing.
The Ford Mustang Cobra Jet uses four PN-250-DZR inverters and two DS-250-115 Dual Stack motors from Cascadia Motion to achieve its performance, which translates to four motors spinning at up to 10,000 revolutions per minute. Each motor has a max output of 350kW, which is where we get that 1400 stapled onto the end of that overlong title. Ford Performance, working with a company called AEM-EV, uses “…an advanced data and control system that features a control algorithm unique to the Cobra Jet 1400.” Custom chassis tuning is also required.
And Ford’s not finished yet. Rushbrook added, “We are very interested in continuing to work with NHRA to determine how electrification can be part of the sport and to show off the Cobra Jet 1400 at max power in due course as regulations develop.” In other words, they think they can make it even faster. We’re looking forward to seeing that.
