Hybrid Mustang One of 13 New Electrified Fords to Be Introduced in the Next Five Years
We would say that the days of Ford making a hybrid Mustang have finally come, but we can’t. Yet. We can do that in 2020, though.
Today, Ford announced that it’s cancelling plans for a new $1.6 billion plant in Mexico. Instead, the automaker is going to “invest $700 million to expand its Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan into a factory that will build high-tech autonomous and electric vehicles along with the Mustang and Lincoln Continental. The expansion will create 700 direct new jobs” over the next four years. Those workers will help create some of the 13 electrified vehicles the Blue Oval is going to roll out in the next five years, including a fully electric SUV with a range of at least 300 miles, an autonomous vehicle designed for ride sharing or commercial ride hailing, and a hybrid version of the Mustang starting in 2020. A hybrid F-150, which can double as a mobile generator, will roll out of the Dearborn Truck Plant and be available to customers in North America and the Middle East in 2020.
Ford says the charged-up Mustang will have V8 power, better fuel economy, and more low-end torque (we’re assuming they’re using the 5.0-liter V8 in the Mustang GT as a benchmark). Of course, its batteries will add more weight. Given that Ford’s current hybrids pair a gas I4 with an electric motor, we think it’s highly likely the hybrid Mustang will have a four-cylinder engine, too. Perhaps a future version of the 2.3-liter I4 available in the current Mustang EcoBoost?
What do you all think? Does the idea of a Mustang with more torque and better fuel economy appeal to you, even if it’s at the potential expense of weight and handling?
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
