Charge Cars Electric Classic ’67 Mustang Concept
April 2020 • By Nestor Cabrera
Ford displayed an electric Mustang at the 2019 SEMA Show—it’s first all-electric vehicle but shock, horror it was a generic looking SUV and not at all in the traditional mold of the iconic Mustang. Much more expensive but far better, we think, to look at the classically styled, electric Mustang by Charge.Cars.
We first encountered the electric Mustang by Charge during our annual trip to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Their first prototype vehicle was displayed in the Michelin Supercar Paddock where you could walk up to and touch it then later on a turntable where it was awarded “Car of the Show” by Michelin Tires.
Ford debuted this electric Mustang SUV concept at the SEMA Show. We hear that production is on hold for the time being.
“This proof of concept vehicle was built around our bespoke EV chassis with a steel body shell,” said Mark Roberts, Chief Creative Officer. “For the next generation prototypes we start with brand new, licensed body shells to which we attach our own designed composite panels. Every vehicle will be hand-built by our skilled technicians.”
Charge.Cars is a start-up car company located in London, England, conceived to redefine what a classic car could be with the integration of advance technology while preserving iconic design architecture. The Charge team has extensive experience with luxury and high-performance vehicles and their engineers and designers were sourced from companies such as Jaguar, Land Rover, McLaren Automotive and even F1 race teams.
Charge Mustang is powered by four x 100kw electric motors making 400kw (540hp) and 1520Nm of torque. It can achieve a 0-60 mph times of 3.99 seconds thanks in part to its AiWD—all-independent wheel drive.
Given such a pedigree one wonders why they chose the Mustang as their first project. Well, their CEO loves fastback Mustangs—simple as that, however, as we stated, this is no ordinary Mustang. This one is powered by four x 100kw electric motors making 400kw (540hp) and 1520Nm of torque. It can achieve a 0-60 mph times of 3.99 seconds thanks in part to its AiWD—all-independent wheel drive—system with intelligence, which uses technology to control each wheel instead of mechanical torque vectoring differentials. The 64kWh battery system gives the vehicle a range of 200 miles. “Effectively, it’s supercar technology inside an iconic classic 1967 Mustang body.” Commented Mark.
For TT the prototype was a little soft around the edges and a little dated with its billet grille but the wheel-to-fender relationship was good.
Externally, we felt the prototype Charge Mustang was a little dated with its billet grille bars and rather soft body panels, bumper hood, etc., but nevertheless, it retained the Mustang’s tough stance. The two-tone interior was a different story and while we liked the color and material combination we struggled with the incongruity of a round steering wheel, an oval instrument bezel, round air vents and a vertically-mounted rectangular touch screen that, on this prototype, allows you to control drive and suspension settings, rear wheel drive and all-wheel drive modes. What really let it down though were the aftermarket billet aluminum pedals. Hopefully, all of that gets fixed when they move into production.
The prototype Mustang’s black and white interior was attractive if a little geometrically confusing and the billet pedals were dated.
“A big part of my role is taking this prototype vehicle and helping to turn it into a production car with great design quality and attention to detail, delivering the customer a brand new hand-built electric Mustang,” said Mark.
In all fairness, the Charge Mustang at Goodwood was a prototype and we must remember that. It’s also the reason we did not get the opportunity to drive it. If the figures are to be believed and I have no doubt that they might be a little underrated this classically styled but modern engineered pony will be able to give some super cars a run for their money. That said you would need to have a super car kind of budget as the starting price will be £300,000 (Approx. $375,000) and only 499 will be made. Make sure to check with TorqTalk.com as we follow this modern classic from prototype to final production in the months to come. All performance figures were provided by Charge Cars.
For more information visit: www.charge.cars
