Here’s Why Goodwood is a Festival of More Than Just Speed
How time flies.
In 2020, the pandemic had temporarily made the world a very different place.
In the UK, restrictions to help prevent the spread of coronavirus meant the Goodwood Festival of Speed couldn’t go ahead in its usual form.
Instead, the amazing team at Goodwood pulled out all the stops to make sure motorsport fans wouldn’t miss out by creating Goodwood SpeedWeek and livestreaming action from the track online.
They weren’t the only ones doing things differently five years ago. For the first time, we were demonstrating the true performance potential of a Ford electric vehicle at Goodwood.
The Mustang Mach-E 1400 was inspired by our first ground-up electric vehicle – the Mustang Mach-E 1 that we’d launched a few months earlier – but dialled up to the extreme.
The one-of-a-kind electric vehicle demonstrator had a fully configurable chassis, seven motors stacked pancake-style, could run rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, and had up to 1,400 PS available for everything from drifting to track racing.
Motorsports champion and professional fun-haver, Vaughn Gittin Jr., described it as like driving “a magnetic roller coaster.”
But the Mustang Mach-E 1400 served a serious purpose: Bridging the gap between what an electric vehicle can do and what customers at the time believed it could.
So much has changed since 2020. We now offer nine electric vehicles in Europe, and many customers are embracing them for everything from dropping the kids at school to operating ambulances in one of the world’s busiest cities.
One thing has stayed the same though: Our eagerness to share our latest electric vehicles with Goodwood crowds as passionate about cars as we are.
Every year, more and more visitors leave with a whole new perception about what an electric vehicle is capable of.
In 2021, the Goodwood Festival of Speed returned and so did we – with a fully electric line-up that included our new Mustang Mach-E GT. 2
In 2022 we unveiled SuperVan 4 – the first electric SuperVan – with up to 2,000 PS and a purpose-built, track-ready chassis that included parts from the recently unveiled E-Transit Custom electric van. 3
Our new Mustang Mach-E Rally 4 – using electric power to take Mustang onto dirt roads for the first time – broke cover at Goodwood in 2023. Visitors were also the first to see our new Explorer 5 electric SUV in action.
Last year it was the turn of our new Capri 6 – a legend rewired for the electric generation – to be seen on the move for the first time at Goodwood. Meanwhile SuperVan 4.2 was busy winning the famous Hillclimb Shootout with the fifth fastest time ever.
This year, it’s the turn of our electric F-150 Lightning SuperTruck to try and recreate its 2024 Pikes Peak hillclimb win in the Shootout.
Our new Puma Gen-E 7 will bring some “big cat energy” and SuperVan 4.2 returns as all five SuperVan generations appear together for the first time to celebrate the iconic Transit van’s 60th birthday.
It’s only taken a few years for the furious torque of electric motors to become as much a part of the motorsport scene as the rumble of a V8 or the shriek of a supercharger.
Electric vehicle innovation is taking performance to new extremes that are enough to convert even ardent petrolheads.
Even more exciting is the potential to inspire new generations of car fans and the young minds that will develop the mind-blowing vehicles of the future.
That is truly electrifying.
Emma Bergg is a member of the Ford communications team.
1 Up to 600 km driving range based on full charge of Mustang Mach-E RWD extended range.
2 Up to 515 km driving range based on full charge of Mustang Mach-E GT.
3 Up to 337 km driving range based on full charge of E-Transit Custom.
4 Up to 510 km driving range based on full charge of Mustang Mach-E Rally.
5 Up to 602 km based on full charge of Explorer RWD extended range.
6 Up to 627 km driving range based on full charge of Capri RWD extended range.
7 Up to 376 km driving range based on full charge of Puma Gen-E.
Estimated range using Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). Figures shown are for comparability purposes and should only be compared with other vehicles tested to the same technical procedures. Actual range varies due to factors such as temperature, driving behaviour, route profile, vehicle maintenance, lithium-ion battery age and condition.
