DETROIT MOTOR SHOW: Ford teases Mach 1 EV

The fresh-faced 2019 Ford Ranger and Ford Mustang Bullitt stole the limelight at Ford's pre-event Detroit motor show reveal on Sunday, but confirmation of the Mach 1 high-performance EV was the real surprise.

What is the Ford Mach 1?

Well, Blue Oval executives were coy on details but it appears to be an all-electric SUV with Mustang levels of performance, which could rival battery-powered crossovers like the Jaguar I-PACE and Tesla Model X.

After announcing that Ford's next-generation F-150 Hybrid pick-up would be built in Dearborn, Ford executive vice-president Jim Farley dropped the EV news.

"Best of all we're not going to stop there with F-150 Hybrid. We're thinking about performance vehicles," he said.

He motioned to the screen as a Ford Mustang and a Ford Explorer SUV enter a garage at Ford's new 'Team Edison' Corktown EV facility, hinting that the EVs to come will be both sports car and SUV -- or possibly a blend of both.

"What happens when this meets an e-racer acceleration?" teased Farley.

Details are non-existent but it's clear Ford wants the world to know it's going to launch a go-fast EV in 2020.

Apart from the logo of the Ford Mach 1, whose name can be traced back to 1969 with the release of the Ford Mustang Mach 1 sports car, little else was confirmed such as performance specifications or driving range.

"Well what is that going to look like? Well it's too soon to show you but here's what our next battery-electric [vehicle] is going to feel like," ribbed Farley, as a glowing line of energy fired through a cityscape on the screen.

"Mach 1, a performance battery-electric [vehicle is] coming in 2020 and we can't wait. It's the beginning of a whole new world for our customers and electrifying the best of Ford," said the Ford exec.

Jim Hackett, Ford president and CEO, concluded the presentation on the eve of the 2018 Detroit motor show by lauding the Mach 1 as "our vision for the future".

"We're in the midst of an exciting world-changing time, and as you can see Ford is leveraging all of its capabilities and passion for an even more vibrant future."

Ford's executive vice-president of product development and purchasing, Hau Thai-Tang, said the Mach 1 will deliver Mustang levels of performance thanks to electrification.

"Our new battery-electric vehicle is going to be inspired by Mustang but it is not going to be Mustang," he said.

"What we talked about with Ford is we want to play to our strengths, we want to target iconic nameplates, so you hear us talk about F-150, Mustang, Transit, so really play where we are strong in terms of brand reputation and pricing power and use that to deliver more than just fuel efficiency.

"Selling electrification just on fuel efficiency is not going to play when gas is $2.50 per gallon in the US. So, we want to really embrace performance, torque, productivity and capability once we get into the truck range and commercial vehicles.”

Hau said Ford's expansion of Ford's electric vehicle range (from just passenger cars like the Focus to trucks and commercial vehicles, as part of an $US11 billion investment over five years -- up from $US4.5b) was a deliberate move.

"The move to electrification is inevitable -- it's just a question of when," he said.

Asked why Ford chose the Mach 1 name for its electric SUV, Hau said: "We thought it was a name we wanted to get some feedback on. People clearly make the connection with Mustang because it denotes performance.

"Mach 1 signifies reaching the speed of sound so it is transformational in terms of reaching a threshold. So we thought all those things would be really provocative to tease our next battery-electric vehicle."

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