Ford Racing will continue to develop a line of high-performance 'Demonstrators' that are intended to push technology – but will broaden them out beyond EVs.
The firm has developed a string of electric Demonstrators in recent years, including the Supervan 4.2, an F-150 Lightning Supertruck and a Mustang Cobra Jet 2200.
The vehicles have competed in the Pikes Peak hillclimb, appeared at events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed and been used as testbeds to develop Ford’s high-performance EV powertrains.
Speaking exclusively to Autocar, Ford Racing boss Mark Rushbook said that the decision to build the range of electric Demonstrators rather than compete in a category such as Formula E was “because we did not feel existing electric series were right for us".
He continued: "That's not a knock on those series, but we wanted the ability to truly learn with a free canvas, and a series like Formula E does restrict you. With the Demonstrators we can do whatever we want, whether it’s a Transit or an F-150, a Mustang Mach-E or even a Mustang coupé.
"We can do what we want and we can learn what we need to about the motor, battery cell technology, the controls, the calibration, aero and so on.”
But with Ford adjusting its future plans to put more of an emphasis on hybrid and combustion powertrains, Rushbrook said its Demonstrators would shift from a pure EV focus.
“We’ll continue to do Demonstrators, but we’re not going to restrict ourselves to full electric,” he explained. “We still have a lot of electric cars in our future, but we also have a lot of hybrids coming, and we also have a lot of combustion vehicles coming. So we’ll do more demonstrators, but you will see more powertrain technology in them, not just full-electric.”
Rushbrook highlighted hybrids as one key area in which Ford was keen to push development. The firm is building experience through its Formula 1 power-unit partnership with Red Bull, and Rushbrook added: “We’re learning a tonne about hybrid powertrains in F1, but there’s more that we can learn.”
