Every year, there’s a point when our work at Ford Performance leaves the lab and hits the mountain — literally. And for 2025, that moment comes this week as we return to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with something radical, both in appearance and performance: the Ford Performance Super Mustang Mach-E Electric Demonstrator.

We’ve been fortunate to have made some noise here over the last few years. From the jaw-dropping E-Transit SuperVan 4.2 to last year’s title-winning F-150 Lightning SuperTruck, this mountain has become a proving ground for our most advanced electric technologies. This year, we’re doing things differently — leaner, lighter, and with a new kind of edge.

Let me introduce you to our newest electric mountain climber: the Ford Performance Super Mustang Mach-E.

A Different Kind of Mustang, Built for the Sky

Inspired by the road-going Mustang Mach-E, this all-electric beast is the result of a deeply collaborative effort, purpose-built to take on all 12.42 miles and 156 turns of America’s Mountain. Ford Design shaped its striking bodywork, while our aero and Vehicle Dynamics teams led development in aerodynamics, suspension, and kinematics. The vehicle was brought to life through a close partnership with our longtime collaborators at STARD Advanced Research and Development — a true team effort engineered to push the limits at Pikes Peak.

What makes it special? For starters, it’s about 250 pounds lighter than last year’s F-150 Lightning SuperTruck. That means more agility and better weight distribution, two things you desperately need when clawing your way up to 14,115 feet. It also comes equipped with three UHP 6-Phase motors delivering a brutal 1,400+ horsepower, and a 50kWh high-performance battery pack that feeds the system with 799V of raw energy.

That regen? We’re talking 710kW of regenerative braking. The kind of recovery that helps keep things fully engaged through high-altitude hairpins.

The staggering 6,900lbs of downforce the Super Mustang Mach-E captures at 150 mph is the cherry on top of one wild sundae.

Meet the Man Behind the Wheel

Of course, no matter how advanced the machine, you still need a driver bold enough — and talented enough — to tame it. That’s where Romain Dumas comes in.

Romain is a legend here. He holds the overall Pikes Peak record and knows every inch of that mountain like the back of his racing glove. This year marks his tenth run up the peak, and his third with Ford Performance. To celebrate that milestone, we’re running the number 310: three drives with us, ten in total. A small tribute to a big legacy.

“This Mach-E is a different beast,” Romain told me recently. “We’re pushing the limits again, and that’s what the mountain is all about.”

Why It Matters: From Mountain to Market

We come to Pikes Peak to win, and the electric platform is the way to do it. But this is more than that. The elevation, extreme conditions, and tight corners make it one of the best places on Earth to stress-test electric vehicle tech.

Every bit of data we collect, from battery to brake performance, helps shape the future of Ford electric vehicles. Whether it’s refining our regen strategy, optimizing thermal management, or designing more efficient motors, the learnings from this climb go straight into the vehicles our customers will drive tomorrow.

As Mark Rushbrook, our Global Director, puts it: “Racing is our test bed.” And Pikes Peak is one hell of a laboratory.

A Legacy of Climbing Higher

This will be our third straight year fielding an electric demonstrator at Pikes. But our roots go deeper. Ford’s first recorded run at Pikes Peak was back in 1916 with a Model T, just ten years after Henry Ford won his race in Sweepstakes in 1901. Now, more than a century later, we’re still climbing — only now with 1,400 all-electric horsepower and 6,900 pounds of downforce at 150 mph.

We’ll see you at the summit.

Mike Norton is Ford Performance F1 and Demonstrators Manager.