Ford's New 2,200 HP Mustang Broke An EV World Record

Car companies love to brag about how quick or powerful their models are to show consumers what they're capable of building. For Ford, that moment came when the automaker took its new Mustang Cobra Jet 2200, an electric car built from the ground up for drag racing, to the racetrack at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte. The Cobra Jet 2200 hit the racetrack with a handful of changes under the hood that make it better than the previous model, the Cobra Jet 1800, as the company pushes the boundaries of EV performance.

Powered by a 2,200-horsepower powertrain with 1,340 foot-pounds of torque, the new model finished a quarter-mile distance in just 6.76 seconds, becoming the first EV to achieve that figure. By doing so, the Cobra Jet 2200 broke the EV world record set by its predecessor by a massive 0.86 seconds. In the process, it achieved a top speed of 222 miles per hour, faster than any of the quickest mass-produced EVs with impressive top speeds. The previous fastest EV quarter-mile time of 7.623 seconds was set in September 2024 by the Cobra Jet 1800. Ford's secret to shattering its own record after roughly a year and a half lies in the various optimizations the company made to the Jet 2200.

The 2,200-horsepower figure on the Cobra Jet 2200 does help, and it makes this EV more powerful than the Tesla Model S, although they're built for different purposes. However, horsepower alone doesn't tell the whole story about Ford's monumental achievement. The company had to go back to the drawing board to find ways to achieve maximum performance from an EV. One piece of the puzzle was quite obvious: reducing the weight of the vehicle. Ford began by reducing the number of motors from four in the previous generation to two, then further shed weight by using a custom tube-frame chassis, carbon-fiber body, and wrapping the car in a NASCAR-style vinyl that weighs 20 pounds less than standard vinyl. 

In total, the team managed to make the new Jet 2200 1,000 pounds lighter than the Jet 1800, which itself was 1,000 pounds lighter than its own predecessor, the Cobra Jet 1400. The second piece of the puzzle is a new Reverse-Acting Centrifugal Clutch (RACC), which the company developed. That clutch is mated to a 5-speed clutchless transmission, which helps the Jet 2200 "launch in direct drive and then slip during shifts to help prevent tire slip and keep the car controlled as the run develops." 

According to Ford, this setup helps "maximize efficiency and power to the ground throughout the run," and its EV world record speaks volumes about how powerful it is. The company also says that the car shifts through up to five gears, which helps it harness the maximum amount of torque that the car is capable of throughout the run. While it fell short of eclipsing the highest top speeds of the fastest electric vehicles in the world, its performance in the quarter-mile is second to none.