Remember the all-electric Ford Mustang Cobra Jet from earlier this year? Surely you haven’t forgotten it?

It was a 1,400hp, 1,500Nm drag racing monster that could do a zero emissions ¼ mile in the low eights at around 275km/h. Yeah, seriously impressive.

Not quite as impressive as this, though. That’s because what we have here is the Mustang Mach-E 1400, and yes, it is a 1,400hp example of Ford’s controversially named EV SUV. Goodness gracious.

Built by Ford Performance and pro-drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr’s company RTR Vehicles, the Mach-E 1400 is a one-off prototype that Ford itself says is “aimed at bridging the gap between what an electric vehicle can do and what customers tend to believe it can do”.

Essentially that means this car is a demonstrator, but Ford assures us that it can deploy different setups that provide capability unlike any other racer.

The ultimate setup is surely the four-wheel drive mode, where seven electric motors (three attached to the front differential and four to the rear) work with the ‘ultra-high-performance lithium nickel manganese cobalt battery’ to provide the huge amount of power to all four wheels.

However, the powertrain has been set up to allow the team to investigate both rear- and front-wheel drive layouts too.

That means it can be optimised for circuit racing, drag racing, drifting, Gymkhana or even just the torture of whichever set of tyres the driver likes the least. There’s even a hydraulic handbrake for added fun.

Oh, and you’ll no doubt have noticed the rear seats so the kids can come along for the ride too. Wild.

And just look at the thing. It’s properly bonkers. Apparently, all of those aero addendums and that giant rear wing contribute to more than 1,000kg of downforce at 258km/h.

The plan is for the Mach-E 1400 to be a test bed for future technologies too, so the bonnet is made from organic composite fibres whilst the rest of the body is carbonfibre.

“It’s my first real test of electrification, and it has completely changed my perspective,” said Vaughn Gittin Jr when we spoke to him about the project. “The experience behind the wheel is life changing. The way these electric motors put power out makes a brain like mine go wild.

“I’ll never forget the first time I felt full power. It was me and the technical director at RTR, and I looked at him and just floored it. All four tyres spun two times, and then it just hooked up and launched like a magnetic rollercoaster. It scared me.

“I came to an abrupt stop because I was like holy sh…”

What a thing. Take a look at Ford’s promo video by clicking these blue words, then make sure to come back and share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

STORY Greg Potts