Stop me if you heard this one already, but Ford appears to be preparing a hybrid version of the Mustang for 2025. The newcomer was potentially teased by the Dearborn-based automaker during the Ford Mustang 60th Anniversary Celebration Livestream (fast forward to the 30:55 mark of the attached video) by means of an orange car performing a smoky all-wheel-drive burnout.
The AWD burnout scene is preceded by a shot of the Mustang's digital instrument cluster, which shows that line lock is engaged. The line-lock system brakes the front wheels only, meaning that smoke should come from the rear tires exclusively. It should be mentioned that the orange Mustang is an S550, whereas the instrument cluster is from an S650. Although the AWD burnout scene does not indicate any sort of hybrid assistance, bear in mind that Ford has been looking into hybrid solutions for the Mustang since at least Raj Nair's tenure as CTO and executive vice prez of product development.
The former chief technical officer was fired by FoMoCo in 2018 due to allegations of inappropriate behavior. Speaking to Emme Hall of Roadshow by CNET during the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, the Indian-American executive somehow made the mistake of confirming what's under the hood.
For starters, Raj Nair made it clear that the Mustang Hybrid uses an EcoBoost-type engine rather than a V8 or the old sixer. He also confirmed electric motors, although Raj did not specify how many of them are featured. Two electric motors driving the front wheels and the 2.3-liter EcoBoost inline-four turbo is a pretty interesting combo, especially when it comes to the near-instant torque of the EDMs.
In addition to Nair's rather surprising revelation, the Ford Motor Company patented a hybrid V8 powertrain with two electric motors in January 2019. The patent number is US 20190023115A1, and the diagram of the free-beathing V8 engine shows EDMs located on either side of the oil pan.
Photo: Jim Farley on X
Fast forward to April 2024, and the plot thickens with a tweet from none other than Ford big kahuna Jim Farley. Said tweet mentions the 60th Anniversary Celebration. What's hiding under the cover will be unleashed sometime in 2025, although it's not clear if the mystery sports coupe will reach Ford dealerships for the 2025 or 2026 model year.
In any case, pretty much every piece of information available suggests a hybrid powertrain for the S650-generation Mustang. Be it a four-cylinder turbo, a thirsty V8, or something à la the 2.7- and 3.0-liter EcoBoost sixers of the Bronco and Bronco Raptor, only time will tell. In the meantime, did you hear that Ford has opened the order book for the GTD?
GTD is Ford's way of saying $325,000 for a Mustang, but as it happens, GTD isn't your usual Mustang. It's on a completely different level from the S550-generation Shelby GT500, primarily because this fellow is a corner-carving monster. Ford is benchmarking the over-800-horsepower Mustang GTD against the likes of the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series and the 991.2-gen GT2 RS.
Rather than Ford's assembly plant in Flat Rock, the Mustang GTD will be manufactured by Ford partner Multimatic in Canada. Speaking of Multimatic, the Canadian company's current president and chief operating officer is – drum roll please – Raj Nair.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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