During its press conference ahead of the official start of the Detroit auto show, Ford teased an all-electric performance SUV named Mach 1. The short teaser and slight explanation came at the end of Ford’s conference, which featured the Bullitt edition Mustang, the Edge ST and the new Ranger.
Ford didn’t give any information about the vehicles performance or range but did say that it’s shooting for 2020, which could mean the vehicle will come late 2020 as a 2021 model year. The teaser shows a Mustang and Explorer entering The Factory in Corktown, the same facility that houses Ford’s Team Edison electric car division (and hosts our Cars in Corktown event). After the two vehicles enter, a bolt of lightning shoots out of the building into the night.
While the teaser is on the corny side, it does show that Ford is keeping an eye on vehicle trends. Currently, there aren’t many players in the all-electric performance world, at least from the automaker side. Tesla dominates that market with its Model S sedan and Model X crossover. Porsche is going to enter the all-electric performance world soon with its Mission E, but there’s still room for other players.
The Mach 1 name is an obvious nod to the Mustang that originally used that name, so it’s strange to use it for an SUV opposed to an all-electric Mustang. However, we’ll have to wait and see if it’s worthy of the legendary name.