Ford has released the first official image of its upcoming all-electric SUV that will borrow heavily from the Mustang from a design point of view.
The design sketch reveals the rear end of the vehicle, which features three-piece taillights clearly inspired from the Mustang and a muscular shape with wide haunches.
The Mach 1 is developed by a brand-new team called Ford Team Edison, which focuses exclusively on electrified vehicles from Ford and Lincoln.
Known internally as CX430, the electric crossover will be a globally engineered model that will share the C2 front-drive platform with the latest Focus. It will sit alongside the next-generation Escape/Kuga in Ford’s lineup, and it’s expected to offer a more road-focused character. Ford says it targets a driving range of 300 miles (483 km) for its electric utility vehicle.
The C2 architecture is said to be flexible enough, allowing Ford many options in terms of wheelbases, track widths, and firewall heights. As a result, the automaker can build many different models from the same platform, much like VW does with its MQB toolkit.
Ford is expected to reveal the electric SUV next year, with sales following in 2020. The name Mach 1 is a clear reference to the Mustang, which provides design inspiration for the electric crossover.
Ford hasn’t released any new information on the Mach 1 but has linked to a text posted on Medium by Ford Team Edison Global Product Development Director Darren Palmer. The executive talks about the challenges faced by the team without revealing any newsworthy details about the product members are working on.
