The last couple years have made clear that high-performance and zero emissions don’t have to be mutually exclusive. The latest proof: Ford’s second all-electric Mustang. If the Detroit-based automaker hasn’t quite figured out how to make a battery-powered muscle car yet, it has developed a 1,500 hp electric dragster.
In a new video posted online on Thursday, Ford showed off the newest member of the Mustang family: the Cobra Jet 1400. More of a technical demonstration than anything else, you’ll never see this ‘Stang out on the road, but that doesn’t make it or its quarter-mile time any less impressive.
The battery-powered dragster, which was first unveiled earlier this summer, boasts a staggering 1,502 horses to be exact. In addition to offering 100 more horses than the automaker promised in the spring, the EV is more powerful than three Mustang GT V8s combined. The powertrain, which was built in collaboration with Cascadia Motion, is actually so powerful that Ford had to whip up a special data and control system to make sure things work smoothly.
That power translates into impressive speed. In independent testing, the dragster was able to rocket down a quarter-mile drag strip in 8.27 seconds while reaching a top speed of 168 mph. While neither of those figures are records, they’re not far off the current highwater marks of 7.52 seconds and 201 mph, respectively.
As impressive as that performance may be, Ford Performance Motorsports still believes there’s room for improvement. The group’s 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.”
The zero-emission dragster is set make its public debut at the NHRA’s US Nationals this weekend at the Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. The timing couldn’t be better, as deliveries of the first electric Mustang, the Mach-E crossover SUV, are set to begin this month.
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