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As with all things, electric vehicles are good at some tasks but not good at others. As I’m sure you know, EVs thrive at straight-line speed – especially when accelerating. Therefore, it would only be wise for Ford to break world electric records in drag racing. The company’s previous world record attempt in the quarter-mile stint for full electric vehicles was attempted by the Cobra Jet 1400 with a staggering time of 8.128 seconds at 171.97 mph. However, this was not enough for Ford, as the engineers want to expand their previous achievements even further. This led to the recently released Cobra Jet 1800. But is more always better? In this case yes!
The Cobra Jet 1800 is here to break records
Front three-quarter view of a Ford Mustang 1800 Super Cobra Jet
Ford has introduced its Mustang Super Cobra Jet 1800 EV drag car, and aside from being a sip, it’s also insanely fast. As mentioned above, this is the evolution of the Cobra Jet 1400, which strangely produced 1502 hp. Now the new Cobra Jet 1800 is pumping out a more worthy 1,800 horsepower, aiming to shatter world records around the fastest EV 0-60 and fastest 2WD EV 0-60 mph times. It’s a big goal, but Ford is committed to achieving it.
Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports, said: “We always strive to push ourselves into all corners of the motorsport world, drag racing remains an important testing ground for our products and technology and we look forward to not only doing it trying to break our own quarter mile record, but to further demonstrate the ongoing evolution we are continuing across the EV landscape.”
An action shot of the Ford Mustang 1800 Super Cobra Jet rolling off the assembly line
The above statement and vision becomes clear when comparing the new Cobra Jet 1800 to the old 1400. The Cobra Jet 1800 features the same four PN-250 DZR inverters coupled to two double-stacked DS-250-115 motor pairs that were used in the 1400 EV. However, it features a completely redesigned, lighter battery system developed by Ford Performance and MLe Racecars. The rear end is again an MLe Racecars unit like that in the 1400, but has also been redesigned with improved suspension geometry from PMR and larger Mickey Thompson drag radials for even faster starts.
All of the above mechanical components are managed by Ford Performance proprietary control software running on AEM-EV hardware. These significant changes were made to shave hundreds of pounds of weight while increasing horsepower. It’s safe to say this is going to be an insanely fast machine.
Why is Ford putting all that effort into electric drag racing?
The electrical internals that power the Ford Mustang 1800 Super Cobra Jet
As you may have seen, electric classes are also being added to many aspects of racing. We now have Formula E, an all-electric Dakar race, recommendations for electric Nascar events and much more. So it would only make sense for Ford to be the first to enter the world of electric drag racing. To be honest, this is the easiest type of racing for an electric vehicle. It focuses on all of the strengths of electric vehicles while negating the downsides. Think about it, the car only needs to work for a few minutes, eliminating range issues. Also, it just needs to accelerate as fast as possible, which is exactly what EVs love to do. Of course, we’re not saying it’s easy to achieve quarter-mile times like that, but we’re saying that drag racing is the easiest motorsport to electrify.
Well, the second reason Ford wants to dip its toes into electric drag racing is so engineers can see the benefits racing can bring to their lineup of consumer vehicles. Racing is an incredible opportunity to test new technologies to their absolute limits. This brings innovations to the market that are slowly seeping into the cars of the general public. That’s why we enhance our vehicles with products that have been put through their paces in the incredibly tough conditions of racing. Oh, and let’s not forget the most important part. Racing is fun, and believe it or not, engineers like to have fun once in a while!
Ford has been very busy lately
A three-quarter rear view of the Ford Mustang 1800 Super Cobra Jet
It’s safe to say that Ford has been working hard lately. That’s a great thing because it means the world gets great cars and innovations for both work and play. Some of their projects include a new F-150 Nascar truck, their Mustang Nascar racer, a very exciting Mustang GT3 looking to revive the battle between Ford and Ferrari at Le Man and their Bronco competing at the King of The Hammers 4600-share excellently beat class. They also build Formula 1 engines for Redbull and have developed an electric van with 2000 hp. Oh, and let’s not forget the highly anticipated 2024 Mustang, which is said to have an electric handbrake for drifting.
A front three-quarter view of the Ford F-150 Nascar
Based on all the company’s developments and activities, we believe that an all-electric street Mustang (not a Mach E) is not far off. The developments of the Super Cobra Jet 1800 should help infuse amazing race-inspired technology into the civilian version, which will hopefully keep the Mustang’s sole alive even if it loses its fire-breathing V-8. Sure, a muscle car needs noise and the well-loved analog feel that arouses our nostalgia. However, should the world eventually go fully electrified, we will have to brace ourselves for a quieter but certainly fast driving experience.