Ford Shines at SEMA with Mustang EV

The Mustang is seen as the ultimate muscle car. Ford stunned visitors to the SEMA show with its all-electric variant of the Mustang. The car even sported a manual transmission. According to Ford, the car is a prototype and will never make it into production. The concept was however definitely an interesting one.

Ford revealed the vehicle at the SEMA show in Las Vegas in collaboration with webasto which helped Ford to develop the “Mustang Lithium” high-performance battery electric vehicle.

Ford said that the electric vehicle would be used for testing the company’s battery and thermal management technologies that the two companies are jointly working on for the growing e-mobility automotive segment.
The vehicle featured a Phi-Power dual-core electric motor and dual power inverters which were powered by an 800-volt Webasto battery system. The powerplant delivered 900 horsepower and 1,000 pound-feet of torque, thus ensuring this Mustang was still a muscle car. The vehicle sported custom carbon fiber body components, had aa stance that was lower by 1 inch and 20-inch staggered fitting forged wheels.

The most notable feature though was the manual transmission. Electric vehicles generally a single-speed gearbox. The manual transmission ensures that a driver would not miss out on the three-pedal experience.
Another distinctive characteristic of the vehicle was its 800-volt battery system as the Porsche Taycan is the only production vehicle which has a system voltage of 800 volts. Most electric cars offer a system voltage of 400 volts.

The battery system seen in this car might indicate that similar systems might be used in its production electric vehicles and this means that they could be charged at a faster rate.
There was no mention made of the range. Ford said that the Mustang has four modes in which it supplies a a controlled amount of torque for different driving modes. The modes are called Valet, Sport, Track and Beast. The vehicle also has an in-dash 10.4-inch touchscreen display.

“Ford has made no secret of the fact that we are electrifying our most popular nameplates,” Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s chief product development and purchasing officer, said in a statement. “This one-off Mustang prototype is a great opportunity for us, together with Webasto, to showcase to our customers what a new electrified powertrain can do for performance in a car they already know and love.”

In 2018, Ford had said that it would be investing USD 11 billion to add 16 all-electric vehicles to its range of 40 electrified vehicles in the period upto 2022. That portfolio will include an all-new Mustang-inspired fully electric SUV in 2020 having a range of 300 miles, and an all-electric F-150 in a few years.

Back in September this year, Ford had unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show a range of hybrid vehicles as part of its goal to achieve sales of 1 million electrified vehicles in Europe by the end of 2022.