Mustang Mach-E

Make
Ford
Segment
SUV

Ford and Red Bull Racing are developing what has been described by Ford CEO Jim Farley as a "strategically important EV." In an interview with Motortrend, Farley spoke about what is presumably a production-bound, high-performance EV for the first time.

This is an exciting extension of the relationship between the two companies after Ford confirmed its Formula 1 comeback as a powertrain supplier from 2026.

Farley was talking about Ford's Formula 1 interests when he made reference to the new EV. "I was in a recent review [about] probably our most strategically important EV, and I turned to my skunkworks team that are developing this in secret, and I asked, 'Hey, who's doing the aero on this?' And he turns to me and says, 'Oh, they're from Red Bull. Formula One," said Farley.

At the same time as that announcement was made, Ford teased what appeared to be a high-performance version of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup, so could this be the strategically important EV that Farley is referring to? We don't think it is. Even high performance pickup trucks don't need crazy aerodynamics, and Ford is already pretty good at building pickups that can perform like sports cars. For Red Bull to be getting involved with aero, it has to be something serious. After all, the last time someone from Red Bull had a hand in building a car, it was the Aston Martin Valkyrie, which Aston engineers told us was so aerodynamically optimized it was like it had an F1 car's floor pan.

Not much more was said about this mystery EV, but being 'strategically important' could refer to its position as a halo car or a model that is intended to sell in larger volumes.

With Red Bull's expertise, this EV sounds like something sleeker, road-biased, and far more agile than a full-size pickup. The only other EV within Ford's current lineup is the Mustang Mach-E, so an even quicker and more hardcore version of this crossover is possible, possibly based on the expected Mach-E Coupe slated for 2026.

Then again, the GT Performance Edition of the Mach-E already does 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, so how much more performance can be squeezed out of it? Well, a lot more if the unruly Mach-E 1400 prototype is anything to go by.

Ford's other performance-oriented model, the Mustang, is only supposed to spawn an all-electric version in 2029, and we get the feeling that Farley was talking about something that will arrive sooner than that.

Another few rungs up the Ford hierarchy would bring us to something like an electric Ford GT successor following the recent departure of the gas-powered GT.

The fact is, all of these scenarios are possible, as Farley didn't supply more information to work with. An all-new Ford performance car that doesn't occupy any of the segments mentioned could be in the cards, too. Whatever it is, this sounds like Ford wanting to capture the magic of its high-end Raptor and Shelby models, but in the electric sphere. That desire, along with Red Bull's input, should result in something truly special.