Ford claims that it’s forthcoming Mustang-inspired electric crossover “is going to go like hell.”
Those were the words of Ford executive chairman Bill Ford during a recent speech at the Crain’s Detroit Business Newsmaker of the Year luncheon, Autonews reports.
The American automaker is preparing to launch the electric crossover at a time when it thinks performance-focused vehicles can be electrified and remain exciting. As a result, Ford is embarking on an electrification plan which will initially see it build and sell electric performance vehicles before bringing the technologies to mainstream vehicles.
“When we first started talking about electrification, there was this thought that there had to be a trade-off: It was either going to be green and boring and no fun, or really exciting but burn a lot of fossil fuels,” Ford said.
“Electrification has come to the point that you can do both.”
Ford is taking a different approach to electric vehicles
Ford used its Full Year Earnings Review and 2019 Outlook documents to confirm that the exciting new EV will be revealed this year before sales commence in 2020.
In previous statements, Ford has said that the electric crossover will have a range of at least 300 miles (482 km), beating out the Tesla Model X 100D and its 295-mile (474 km) range.
It remains unclear how much of the crossover’s design will be influenced by the iconic Ford Mustang. However, a teaser sketch of the vehicle’s rear-end did show off taillights very similar to those of Ford’s iconic pony car.
Ford says that the electric crossover will be equipped with a charging system that’s an “effortless experience at home and on the road.” Ford hasn’t divulged many details about this but claims it has a solution to the pains currently holding back customers from the mass adoption of electric vehicles.