The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team has unveiled a new hybrid rally car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, based on the brand’s Puma crossover.
Though the final design and specifications are still under wraps, the Puma Rally1 hybrid car will combine the brand’s acclaimed turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol motorsport engine with a 100kW electric motor and 3.9kWh battery.I t will also be plug-in hybrid – rather than a ‘self-charging’ setup – with Ford also saying it will be powered by a 100 per cent sustainable fossil-free fuel in racing.
Part of Ford’s commitment to full electrification, the new model follows on from the extreme all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400, which made its debut in July last year. By 2026, Ford says all its road car range will be ‘zero-emissions capable’ in Europe, and then all-electric by 2030.
Ford says the rally model will ‘provide competition-level performance as well as the ability to travel through towns, cities and service parks between stages using pure-electric power’. The relatively small battery also only weighs 95kg and can be recharged in just 25 minutes.
Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance, said: “Ford is 100 per cent committed to an electrified future, and the white heat of competition has been responsible for many of the innovations that appear in our road cars today,
“The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 will put hybrid power to the ultimate test, and prove that the technology is capable of delivering thrilling performance.”
The Puma Rally1 will be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that takes place from today until Sunday (July 8-11).
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