Philippa Kaur

With over 1,400 horsepower and all kinds of aero bits added, this prototype was built to prove EVs can have fun, too.

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Published:July 21, 2020Caption:Emme HallPhoto:Ford More

Watching a talented driver push the limits of any car is really cool, but watching them pit ridiculously capable gas-powered cars against an electric vehicle — and seeing the EV more than keep up — is just pure awesome. Case in point: This video Ford released Tuesday, featuring professional fun-haver Vaughn Gittin Jr. behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype going head-to-head with the likes of Ken Block in his 1965 Ford Mustang Hoonicorn RTR V2, Hailie Deegan in a 2020 Mustang Shelby GT350R, Joey Logano in a 2019 NASCAR Mustang and Chelsea Denofa in the 2020 Mustang RTR. Each gas-car driver demonstrates his or her specialty, be it stunts, handling, flat-out speed or drifting, and the Mustang Mach-E 1400 answers back, proving this EV has some major electric boogaloo moves.

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The 1400 in the name refers to the horsepower — as in, 1,400 hp. This Mach-E is powered by seven — yes, seven — electric motors. Three power the front axle, while four are attached to the rear. Everything in the car is adjustable. It can default to front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and it’s full of little tricks to help it succeed in any form. For example, drift cars are usually manual transmission, allowing the driver to push in the clutch while utilizing the handbrake when getting the car into that sweet drift. This disconnects the driveline so nothing is overwhelmed during this crucial moment. The Mach-E 1400 doesn’t have a traditional transmission, so it’s outfitted with a powertrain control that disconnects the power to those rear wheels while Gittin engages the hydraulic handbrake. In this manner, he can set up for the drift without any exploding axles.

With the extreme aerodynamic bits and wide Nitto NT555 G2 tires, this prototype looks pretty sick. The almost comically large, adjustable wing in the rear helps the car produce 2,300 pounds of downforce at 160 mph. The front splitter and dive planes bring an aggressive look to the front of the electric crossover SUV, as well. Sure, it’s much taller than the other cars on screen, but it doesn’t look out of place. Also, take note of the incredible sound the Mach-E produces. We had a chance to speak with Gittin over a video conference and he said the prototype really is that loud, and as a guy who’s used to V8s, he wasn’t sure he’d like it. In the end, though, he came around. “Is it really weird that I don’t even want to hear the V8s anymore?” he asked. Strong words, Mr. Gittin. Gittin had to modify his driving style to go from gas-powered car to EV. Not only did he have to get his ear tuned to the aforementioned electric motor whine, he also had to adjust his right foot to get used to all that instant torque. Gittin also said that the battery location pushes the Mach-E 1400’s center of gravity so low that it’s like driving a go-kart, despite its crossover proportions.  Holy smokes, that wing!
Ford
“It drives like it’s inches from the ground. … Where my natural reaction is to throw the car super hard, it doesn’t need that. It was getting used to how the car likes to rotate,” he said.The Mach-E 1400 stores its electricity in a 56.8-kilowatt-hour battery with nickel-manganese-cobalt pouch cells, resulting in a high discharge rate. Gittin Jr. said the car can handle 20 to 30 minutes of aggressive driving depending on variables like weather and track conditions, and that it takes 45 minutes to charge completely. No word when we’ll get to see the Mach-E 1400 prototype in person, but the production Mustang Mach-E will be available at the end of the year. More

Lots of EVs coming our way.
General Motors
Buried within General Motors’ latest sustainability report, published Thursday (PDF), the automaker spilled a bunch of news about its upcoming electric vehicle portfolio. We’ve known the automaker’s goal is to bring 20 EVs to market globally by 2023, but for the first time we have some US-specific information.A total of 12 new electric cars are confirmed and coming soon across all of GM’s divisions: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. A few of them we already knew about, but some were mentioned publicly for the very first time.

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Let’s start from the mainstream divisions and work our way into the luxury-oriented brands.ChevyChevy already confirmed that the Bolt EUV and Velite 7, shown here, share a platform.
Buick
The Bowtie brand has three new electric cars coming, according to GM. The first is the Bolt Electric Utility Vehicle that GM’s mentioned in the past. Expect it to look a lot like the Buick Velite 7 that it recently revealed for China. We’ll see the Bolt EUV debut next summer as a 2022 model and it will be the first vehicle outside of Cadillac to receive the automaker’s Super Cruise partially automated driving assistant for the highway.GM didn’t provide timeframes for the next two EVs, but we should see them by 2023 to keep up with the automaker’s aggressive timeline. The biggest news is a battery-electric Chevy pickup truck that will feature at least 400 miles of range. Details are scarce, but GM said it will occupy the full-size segment, so expect it to be about the same size as a Silverado. Finally, a midsize SUV will come from Chevy for “customers looking for an electric option in this segment.” That’s all GM had to say about this vehicle, but it could take inspiration from the latest Trailblazer.It’s not new, but GM also confirmed a new Bolt EV is on the way and will launch next year as well.BuickHopefully, the Enspire is production-bound.
Buick
Two new SUVs with electric powertrains are on the way for Buick. One is a more traditional vehicle with a crossover shape to “maximize interior space and cargo,” while the other model will be “expressive.” Buick’s built some gorgeous concepts over the past few years, so hopefully we see something really stunning. GMCWe’ll see an SUV based on this guy.
GMC
The obvious vehicle GM talked about for GMC is the upcoming Hummer EV pickup truck, but after numerous rumors, GM also confirmed we’ll see an electric Hummer SUV based on the pickup. It should share a lot with the truck, so when we finally see the pickup, we’ll likely get a good look at the SUV to come, too.CadillacThe Lyriq should look something like this.
Cadillac
GM’s luxury division is meant to spearhead the automaker’s EV onslaught, and it has a total of five EVs coming soon. We know about two of them: the Lyriq electric SUV set to debut next month and the Celestiq flagship model. The latter is the only sedan mentioned of the bunch. Aside from these two models, Cadillac will get three additional electric SUVs.The first will be an entry-level luxury model of sorts, similar to the space the XT4 fills for Cadillac today. Next is a “globally sized” three-row SUV with an emphasis on interior space, and finally, we’ll see a full-size electric SUV that takes cues from Escalade. We’ve heard many rumors about an electric Escalade to come, but it’s not clear if this will be an extension of the current SUV or a totally new model.500-600 mile ranges? Doable, says GMThis is just one version of GM’s new third-gen EV platform that will underpin the new Hummers — Ultium batteries and all.
General Motors
Expect all of these new models (save for the Bolt EV and EUV) to ride on GM’s new BEV3 platform, which supports the automaker’s Ultium battery technology. The tech is meant to help better hunt Tesla, with ranges exceeding 400 miles on a single charge and ultrafast charging at rates up to 350 kilowatts.But the automaker stresses it’s already looking further ahead. Engineers are already working on technology to replace Ultium with low-cobalt alternatives, to be more Earth- and budget-friendly. Instead, they could house high nickel qualities, and with other advances, we could see EVs from GM come with 500 to 600 mile ranges.GM’s long said it believes in an electric future, but clearly, the automaker’s putting its money where its mouth is.
2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the same hatch with more driving range
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After a decade of CHAdeMO, Nissan will use the CCS charging standard for its new Ariya EV in the US and EU.
Nissan
The upcoming Nissan Ariya electric SUV is a major step in forward the the automaker’s Nissan Next vision — a rebirth of the brand with a streamlined new generation of vehicles — but it could also be the death knell of the CHAdeMO DC fast-charging standard in the US and Europe. Nissan’s instead adopted the competing Combined Charging System that’s standard for these markets.The CHAdeMO protocol was developed and promoted by the eponymous CHAdeMO Association, formed in 2010 by Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru (nee Fuji Heavy Industries) and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The standard’s complex 10-pin connector and high-voltage, high-current stations enable rapid charging for compatible electric vehicles, adding up to 75 miles in around 25 minutes for early revisions. Over time, the protocol has grown to include even faster theoretical speeds, vehicle data connectivity and bi-directional flow enabling vehicle-to-grid charging.The CHAdeMO name is derived from the Japanese phrase “O cha demo ikaga desuka” (“How about a cup of tea while charging?”) hinting at the time it takes to charge a car.
James Martin/CNET
Nissan’s fully electric Leaf was one of the first EVs to make use of the CHAdeMO standard in the US when the connector appeared next to the universal J1772 charging port on the SL trim level in 2010. In 2011, it was joined by a CHAdeMO-compatible version of Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV with full-electric versions of Honda’s Fit and Kia’s Soul also playing host to the funky plug over the years.Today, the only new CHAdeMO-compatible vehicles available to US buyers are the second-generation Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV. Automakers Hyundai, Kia and Honda have all moved their fast-charging plug-ins sold in North America and Europe to the CCS standard.Despite arriving a year later, there are nearly as many CCS stations in North America (3,174) as there are CHAdeMO (3,307) according to the US Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, but since many of these stations include multiple CCS plugs (versus just one CHAdeMO), the newer protocol technically enjoys more actual outlets (6,130 vs. 5,059). That’s not a huge difference, but CCS has another advantage here: Charging at those stations is often much faster.

There’s only so much room to cram batteries into a vehicle’s platform, even in this spacious new class of EV crossovers. So Nissan is one of many automakers (including Audi with its 150 kW charging E-Tron) that see shorter, ultra-fast charging sessions as a good way to combat range anxiety while we wait for a breakthrough in cheap energy density. But to get charging times down, power (wattage) has to go up.Most CHAdeMO stations in the US are limited to just 50 kilowatts. Electrify America’s fastest CCS chargers can reach up to 350 kW. Now, in fairness, most CCS stations don’t max out the full 350-kW potential either. Nissan and EVgo have recently committed to building 200 CHAdeMO 100-kW stations, but with the new Ariya supporting up to 130-kW fast charging, CCS appears to be the only way the electric SUV could charge at full speed at an American station today.”We are just following the customer,” said Nissan Senior VP Ivan Espinosa. “This is what we do. And if the customer is expecting this because it’s more popular, and easy to access the infrastructure under CCS, we will do that. This is what we’ve decided to do in the case of the Ariya for the US.”As to whether a hypothetical next-generation Leaf would also convert to CCS, the automaker made no comment.The CHAdeMO 2.0 protocol technically has headroom for up to 400-kW charging, but such stations are extremely rare.
Roadshow staff
CHAdeMO has enjoyed success in parts of the world like Japan, where it has a more widespread charging network, more vehicles that support the standard (even Tesla vehicles sold in Japan charge with a CHAdeMO adapter), and deeper integration with infrastructure, including a developing vehicle-to-grid ecosystem that enables neat tricks like powering a home during an outage or equalizing grid spikes and dips with connected cars’ batteries.”We will keep using CHAdeMO in other parts of the world,” states Espinosa, clarifying that Ariya SUVs sold in Japan will use and take full advantage of the charging standard that the brand has supported for a decade now.Nissan hasn’t stated whether there will be different charge times for US and European CCS-equipped Ariyas versus Japanese models with CHAdeMO. In fact, the automaker hasn’t even nailed down exact range or charging times; those details will come closer to the EV’s launch. You can check out our full first look at the new Nissan Ariya electric SUV for an updated rundown of everything that we do know. More

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