The Pikes Peak Worldwide Hill Climb is a racing event that’s been going on since 1916. It’s a 12.42-mile run that climbs 4,720 ft and serves as a proving floor for carmakers to check the pace and agility of their new automobiles.
Electrical vehicles are likely to do nicely within the Pikes Peak race; they don’t should cope with the issues of excessive altitudes and thinner air that may stymie racecars powered by fossil fuels, making it a great testing floor. The primary electrical automotive to win was in 2015, when Honda claimed victory with an electric CR-Z. Volkswagen’s ID R set a course report in 2018, blasting up the course at over 90 mph in just under eight minutes.
However for the previous two years, one firm has claimed the title of King of the Mountain with its wildly designed electrical demonstrators: Ford. The engineers at the automaker’s racing division method the race with the zeal of a mad scientist. First there was the SuperVan 4.2, a 2,000 horsepower (not a typo) “frivolously modified” Transit van with a rear wing so monumental it regarded prefer it may merely fly to the highest of the notorious hill. Then there was the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck, a beastly model of the automaker’s electrical pickup that, just like the SuperVan, took residence the highest prize — even after briefly coming to a whole cease throughout its run.
For the previous two years, one firm has claimed the title of King of the Mountain with its wildly designed electrical demonstrators: Ford
This yr, Ford is switching issues up with the Super Mustang Mach-E, an EV demonstrator with specs just like the SuperVan and SuperTruck, with some key variations. Nonetheless, the Tremendous Mustang Mach-E could have the identical problem: get to the highest of the hill sooner than anybody else.
And whereas SuperTruck was an evolution of SuperVan, the Tremendous Mustang Mach-E is extra of a “ground-up train,” mentioned Zach Burns, F1 and EV demonstration program engineer, in an interview. That features a new suspension, a full aerodynamic redesign, carbon brakes, and different additions designed to assist the demonstrator cost up the infamous hill as quick as potential.
A lot of that may come all the way down to downforce, and Ford Efficiency has actually outdone itself with this one. Maybe you’ve seen the large rear wing that’s paying homage to a extra conventional racecar design with endplates over the curved, body-joining construction. This may assist the Mustang Mach-E generate a staggering 6,900 kilos of downforce at 150 mph, surpassing even final yr’s SuperTruck high-downforce configuration.
“You’re solely going to see that form of stage [of downforce in] F1 and LMP1 [vehicles] again within the day,” Burns mentioned. “So it’s a really excessive downforce car.”
The Tremendous Mustang Mach-E is extra of a “ground-up train”
Design work started final September, Burns mentioned. By the top of October, the Ford Efficiency workforce had “totally dedicated” to the design of the car. And ultimate meeting came about a few month and a half in the past in Austria by STARD Superior Analysis and Growth, Ford’s manufacturing associate within the challenge.
The workforce began with a point-mass mannequin, biking via “tons of and tons of” of iterations till they settled on the shape issue that may be best on the observe, Burns mentioned. “So that you’re wheelbase observe, width, lengths, weights, energy, downforce — simply form of all of the completely different spectrums of a car and to decide on the attributes you’d wish to have,” he added.
Crucially, the Tremendous Mustang Mach-E is a lighter and extra nimble racer than its predecessors, with extra regenerative capability and a extra balanced weight distribution. This may assist with the 12.42-mile course’s twisty ascent, Ford says.
On the coronary heart of the Tremendous Mustang Mach-E are three STARD UHP 6-Section motors producing over 1,400 horsepower, all fed by 50kWh of ultra-high-performance Li-polymer nickel-manganese-cobalt pouch cells. Like final yr’s entry, the demonstrator operates on a voltage of 799V, however this yr’s setup sheds crucial weight — over 260 kilos — whereas delivering regenerative braking of 710kW. The automotive’s carbon braking system, cast magnesium wheels, and Pirelli P-Zero tires are engineered to resist the punishing 156 turns as much as the 14,115-foot summit.
On the coronary heart of the Tremendous Mustang Mach-E are three STARD UHP 6-Section motors producing over 1,400 horsepower
Ford is eyeing a possible hat trick (or wouldn’t it be a Triple Crown?) with this yr’s race, which takes place June twenty second in Colorado. As with Ford’s earlier Pikes Peak entrants, French racing impresario Romain Dumas will pilot the Mach-E to the summit. To mark Dumas’ milestone with the workforce, the Mustang Mach-E will carry the official race quantity 310 — a nod to his third entry with Ford Efficiency and tenth general run up Pikes Peak.
However this isn’t some vainness challenge for Ford. Key learnings from the Tremendous Mustang Mach-E and its counterparts are “actively influencing” the following technology of Ford EVs for manufacturing, the corporate says. This contains improvements in battery chemistry, thermal administration, and high-performance electrical drive models “examined below excessive stress at Pikes Peak.”
“These automobiles are the higher echelon of the height of what you may see and what we do right here,” Burns mentioned. “I believe that undoubtedly helps validate and enhance what we do on the manufacturing facet.”