According to Ron Heiser, chief engineer behind the new Mustang Mach-E utility, a non-SUV Mustang with battery power is an inevitability.
“I think if you look out in the future — who knows what timeframe that is — the market is eventually going to roll over to EVs,” Heiser told Australia’s
Motoring.
The next-generation Mustang is rumoured to sit atop a modified Explorer SUV chassis, which will set up the vehicle with a hybrid option for the first time.
While an electric Mustang is likely already in the works, it won’t share that same platform. Luckily, Ford already has a new EV-capable platform in the form of the Mach-E.
The Mustang Mach-E debuted riding on a modular platform set to underpin a few different electric vehicles of various sizes, with either front- or rear-wheel-drive. It’s likely a modified version of this platform will underpin the future electric pony.
The Mach-E took the name of the classic muscle car, but not
all vehicles that ride on the platform will wear the Mustang badge.
“It doesn’t need to have a Mustang name on it, but we chose the first vehicle on this platform to be a Mustang,” said Heiser. “We don’t give them names any more,” he laughed.
The Mach-E is
not based on Volkswagen’s MEB EV platform, but Ford will use that platform for two new Ford models for Europe.
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