Amid a series of Mustang reveals at the Detroit auto show this week, Ford hinted that the name Mach 1 is being considered for its affordable crossover electric vehicle, due in 2020.
Sherif Marakby, Ford Motor Company vice president for autonomous vehicles and electrification, confirmed it: “There is a possibility; we’re testing that,” he said. Marakby added that the Mach 1 name is intended as an inspiration for the EV project in terms of design, performance, and significance.
The architecture of the vehicle and all its elements—even a component level—are being developed specifically for this application. “This is the next generation of all the different pieces: the battery, the motor, the inverter, the gearbox,” Marakby said.
For the powertrain team, the aims include a 300-mile range, consistent performance, and reducing any degradation of the battery under adverse weather conditions and over time. Marakby said that Ford is staying away from ambient-air cooling of the battery pack (such as used by the Nissan Leaf) and instead will use liquid cooling.
Ford is not going to use a solid-state pack, Marakby said, but he confirmed that the company is researching solid-state batteries and thinks that they’re “promising for a next generation.”
All-New Floorplan
The all-new architecture is specific for this EV, which means it won’t necessitate packaging sacrifices to fit a large-capacity battery pack. Murakby said that the modular platform can accommodate different battery sizes.
The EV’s development path hasn’t followed normal company channels. Although the effort started out within Ford’s larger development framework, more recently it has been spun off to a smaller, dedicated group called Team Edison, which adds a Silicon Valley feeling to the project. The team is in the process of moving (together with Ford autonomous-vehicle teams) to a separate industrial complex in Detroit’s hip Corktown neighborhood.
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