The Next Mach 1 Will Be Electric, but Will It Be a Mustang? UPDATE: High Performance Electric SUV?

One of the talking points at Ford’s reveal of the North American market Ranger, Edge ST, and the latest coming of the Mustang Bullitt, was the automaker’s commitment of $11 billion dollars to the further electrification of Ford’s product lineup. An upcoming hybrid version of the F-150 pickup truck was announced and the presentation ended with the tease of a “performance” battery electric vehicle to be on sale for the 2020 model year under the Mach 1 name.

While it’s now clear that the new Mach 1 will be a purely electrically powered vehicle, Ford was less forthcoming about what kind of vehicle it is going to be. Don’t assume that it will be based on the Mustang.

Talking with a gaggle of reporters after the scripted presentation, Ford’s executive vice president and president of global markets, Jim Farley, reiterated that the Mach 1 will be a battery electric vehicle, not a hybrid, but he was coy about whether or not it would share the Mustang’s brand and/or platform.

When a reporter asked him if the new BEV would be “related” to the Mustang, Farley said related was a good word to use but he wouldn’t say if it would be actually based on the Mustang platform. Though Farley wouldn’t commit to saying the Mach 1 would be a Mustang, he did say that the $11 billion was targeted at electrifying, either as hybrids or pure BEVs, Ford’s entire product line of cars and light trucks.

It would be strange seeing the Mach 1 logo on anything other than a Mustang, but the proposed BEV Mach 1 makes me think of a recurrent idea over the past few years that had General Motors possibly expanding Corvette into its own sub-brand — something that will de facto happen when the mid-engined ‘Vette finally appears in showrooms alongside legacy front-engined models. Perhaps Ford sees a battery powered Mach 1 as a means of expanding the Mustang brand to more than one model. I suppose we’ll find out in a couple of years.

UPDATE: Late Sunday night, Ford PR rep Mike Levine replied to a tweet originating from TTAC friend and GM Inside News editor Michael Accardi, claiming, “The Mach 1 name captures the spirit of the new vehicle.” He went on to admit, “Ford will gauge reaction from potential customers before making a final decision on naming” the possible high performance battery electric SUV.

[Image: Ford Motor Company]