Never Say Never: Ford Promises ICE Power for Mustang Until the Bitter End

By Edward A. Sanchez — May 24, 2024

Following comments made by General Motors president Mark Reuss suggesting the Camaro name could make a comeback in the form of a high-performance four-door EV, Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley passionately countered by saying that Ford would “never make an all-electric Mustang,” and that it would keep the V8 engine alive “as long as God and the politicians let us.” So, what exactly does that make the Mach-E?

Ford seemed plenty eager to affix the Mustang brand to its new EV crossover when it came out, and it seemed to be a shrewd move. May I remind Mr. Farley of the late Sergio Marchionne’s famous quip that Ferrari would make an SUV over his “dead body.” Development of what would become the Purosangue began in 2017. Marchionne passed unexpectedly in 2018, but the Purosangue did not officially debut until 2022.

The transition from internal combustion to wholly electric seems like it’s more of an existential transition for car enthusiasts than carburetors to fuel injection, throttle cables to throttle-by-wire, downsizing and forced induction, or even the disappearance of manual transmissions ever were. For decades, automotive brands built their mystique and reputations on the unique sonic and driving signature delivered by a specific formula of internal combustion: Chevrolet with the versatility, low-cost, and tunability of its small-block V8, Porsche with its punchy and passionate flat-sixes, and Cummins with its tried-and-true inline-six diesels.

While all of these companies still have a form of these engines in production and have pledged support to them for the foreseeable future, a time may come when keeping internal combustion engines in the powertrain lineup becomes cost prohibitive, either through regulatory compliance measures in emissions, “congestion zone” fees and penalties, or fuel prices and taxes, that it simply does not become economically feasible for companies to continue to produce them in volume, or for customers to buy them.

Internal combustion has in many ways become the new status symbol in the automotive world. We’re already seeing this in the form of Mate Rimac’s seemingly abrupt pivot away from pure EV powertrain development to a V16 hybrid for the next-generation Bugatti, the supercharged V8 Ford F-150 Raptor R being a six-figure, limited-edition super truck, and Mercedes-Benz limiting the V12 to its ultra-premium Maybach sub-brand.

I get the visceral, steampunk, Goldbergian appeal of internal combustion engines. The nuanced differences between inline-sixes, V8s, naturally aspirated, turbocharged, supercharged, and diesel engines is good for hours of barstool banter with fellow gearheads. That doesn’t even take into account transmission-related discussions of gear ratios, shifter feel, dual-clutch versus torque converter, or the most sacrosanct of them all: manual vs. automatic.

The discussion around EVs usually starts with “It’s got lots of torque” and ends with “What’s the range?” Not nearly as interesting, unless you have an interest in going down the rabbit holes of battery chemistry, hairpin vs. wound copper stators, or permanent magnet vs. induction electric motors. To say nothing of software throttle and regen modulation or millisecond-response traction control. Maybe we aren’t so different after all.

I’m happy to talk shop with ICE enthusiasts just as much as EV geeks. But I’m also comfortable in a predominantly or exclusively EV future. The turning point for me was my first test drive of a Tesla Model 3 SR+, which convinced me in that moment that I was all-in on an electric future. I will always have a nostalgic fondness for ICE, much in the same sense as the joy I get at historic concours meetups or at the county fair seeing antique tractors and agricultural machinery in action.

But I’ve come to terms – and peace – with getting there autonomously. I hope the day never comes when human-driven vehicles become completely outlawed. There’s something beautiful and soul-satisfying in driving curving mountain and canyon roads, whether in an ICE or EV, and experiencing the painstaking effort engineers put into the shock damping, spring rate, steering ratio, and the engine’s torque curve and throttle response. But for the quotidian grind of the daily commute, I’d happily hand over the reins to a robot, once systems become refined and validated enough where I’d have trust that it would reliably get me there and back in once piece (statistically).

I hope Farley and Ford can fight the good fight and keep an ICE variant of the Mustang in production for “as long as God and the politicians let us.” But Ford is a business, not an enthusiast charity. The day may come when the squeeze of global emissions regulations, fuel prices, and affordability no longer make the business case of an internal-combustion Mustang feasible. That day will be sad for some, but it doesn’t have to mean the end of the Mustang brand.

(Image courtesy Ford)