Photo: Tesla/YouTube screenshot (Ken Block) screenshot collage
The only way you could possibly make this drag race more exciting is if you threw the all-new Rimac Nevera into the mix as well. The three best electric vehicles currently sharing the planet with us, all lined up for the quickest form of automotive entertainment: a quarter mile drag race.
Even though it's hard to imagine given the Mach-E 1400's levels of performance, Ford has an even better EV in its locker for this kind of occasion. It's the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 dedicated dragster that actually raced the Mach-E 1400 earlier this year to establish its supremacy inside the carmaker's ranks, though the difference was not at all that great.
The worrying bit for Ford should be the times of these two EVs over the quarter mile, which are way higher than what you need to at least make the Model S Plaid sweat a little. The Ford electric vehicles were only separated by 0.076 seconds, with the quicker of the two (the Cobra Jet) stopping the timer at 10.712.
We already know the Tesla is a nine-second car, managing to drop under the ten-second mark even on regular surfaces, so the two Fords would have to bring their A+ game if they're to stand any chance. As for the Rimac, the Croatian hypercar is actually in a league of its own as it seemingly drops into the eights at will.
But what's with all this talk about the Plaid racing the Mach-E 1400? Well, we have one Twitter user to thank for asking Jim Farley, the Ford CEO, the right question. "Are you gonna drag Plaid for bragging rights?" @mliebow posted in reply to a Farley Tweet thanking Ford Performance for the chance to drive the Mach-E 1400.
"Good idea", came the reply, though we feel (and fear) it was more the kind of message you put out to save face knowing you are never going to do it. And if Ford doesn't want to, it's not going to happen since nobody has access to the Mach-E 1400 without the approval of the company's hierarchy.
However, regardless of who would win it, it wouldn't actually be a "good idea" (other than for entertaining purposes). That's because the Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 is nothing more than a prototype, a test vehicle put together by the guys at Ford Performance to see how far they could stretch the current technology. It has an obscene number of electric motors - about seven - and a power output of 1400 hp. The fact it will run the quarter mile in the high tens is actually quite baffling since, being a show car, it also comes with a smaller battery pack, so it should be lighter.
All things considered, it's not going to happen. We might see a Rimac Nevera versus Tesla Model S Plaid at some point after the first hypercars are delivered to their new owners, but we doubt Ford would expose its prototype to a potential defeat. Plus, considering how paranoid Tesla is about independent Plaid tests (see what happened with MotorTrend), even if Ford did want to go ahead, the Californian company would probably say "no". It looks like we're going to have to run this one only in our imagination, though, for some reason, all cars tend to lose there to me running barefoot next to them.
The worrying bit for Ford should be the times of these two EVs over the quarter mile, which are way higher than what you need to at least make the Model S Plaid sweat a little. The Ford electric vehicles were only separated by 0.076 seconds, with the quicker of the two (the Cobra Jet) stopping the timer at 10.712.
We already know the Tesla is a nine-second car, managing to drop under the ten-second mark even on regular surfaces, so the two Fords would have to bring their A+ game if they're to stand any chance. As for the Rimac, the Croatian hypercar is actually in a league of its own as it seemingly drops into the eights at will.
But what's with all this talk about the Plaid racing the Mach-E 1400? Well, we have one Twitter user to thank for asking Jim Farley, the Ford CEO, the right question. "Are you gonna drag Plaid for bragging rights?" @mliebow posted in reply to a Farley Tweet thanking Ford Performance for the chance to drive the Mach-E 1400.
"Good idea", came the reply, though we feel (and fear) it was more the kind of message you put out to save face knowing you are never going to do it. And if Ford doesn't want to, it's not going to happen since nobody has access to the Mach-E 1400 without the approval of the company's hierarchy.
However, regardless of who would win it, it wouldn't actually be a "good idea" (other than for entertaining purposes). That's because the Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400 is nothing more than a prototype, a test vehicle put together by the guys at Ford Performance to see how far they could stretch the current technology. It has an obscene number of electric motors - about seven - and a power output of 1400 hp. The fact it will run the quarter mile in the high tens is actually quite baffling since, being a show car, it also comes with a smaller battery pack, so it should be lighter.
All things considered, it's not going to happen. We might see a Rimac Nevera versus Tesla Model S Plaid at some point after the first hypercars are delivered to their new owners, but we doubt Ford would expose its prototype to a potential defeat. Plus, considering how paranoid Tesla is about independent Plaid tests (see what happened with MotorTrend), even if Ford did want to go ahead, the Californian company would probably say "no". It looks like we're going to have to run this one only in our imagination, though, for some reason, all cars tend to lose there to me running barefoot next to them.
Good idea
— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) June 12, 2021
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