Ford’s Mustang Cobra Jet 1400, an all-electric drag car built in conjunction with motor and electronics supplier Cascadia Motion, has made its public debut at the NHRA US Nationals where it posted an impressive 8.27 second quarter-mile pass in its first public outing.
“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,” explained Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports.
Ford Performance collaborated with Cascadia Motion on the powertrain, which supplied four of its PN-250-DZR inverters coupled to a pair of DS-250-115s motors – each of which consist of a stack of two motors, capable of running at 10,000rpm. The powertrain runs at 800V maximum output of 350kW per motor.
To manage such a potent propulsion package, AEM-EV and Ford Performance jointly developed a data and control system which they say features a control algorithm unique to the Cobra Jet 1400. The impressive power and torque output also required a different approach to chassis tuning strategies compared with traditional IC-engined drag cars, which MLe, Ford’s build and integration collaborator on the project, developed with input from Ford Performance.
“It’s been a great but challenging project for all of us at Ford Performance,” added Rushbrook. “The opportunities to learn with the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400, as well as the Mustang Mach-E 1400 we recently introduced, give us great insight into what may be possible in high-performance all-electric vehicles for Ford going forward. We are very interested in continuing to work with NHRA to determine how electrification can be part of the sport and to show off the Cobra Jet 1400 at max power in due course as regulations develop.”
