Electric Power Dominates Goodwood: Ford's SuperTruck Outperforms Supercars
The Goodwood Festival of Speed recently concluded, witnessing an extraordinary feat as Ford's electric SuperTruck emerged triumphant in the challenging hillclimb event. This impressive victory, achieved by outperforming an array of high-performance vehicles, including numerous supercars powered by both traditional combustion engines and electric powertrains, underscores the growing prowess of electric technology in competitive motorsports.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed, a prestigious annual gathering held on the historic grounds of Goodwood House in West Sussex, England, has evolved into a premier global motorsports celebration since its inception in 1993. The event serves as a platform for automotive manufacturers to unveil their latest models, while enthusiasts and racing teams showcase rare, custom-built, and unique vehicles.
A central highlight of the festival is the Goodwood hillclimb, a challenging 1.17-mile (1.89-kilometer) course featuring a 304-foot (92.7-meter) elevation gain. While primarily a showcase for classic and innovative racing machines, the hillclimb also presents an opportunity for competitive timed runs. This year, the event featured several compelling electric vehicles, including Honda's Super EV concept, the newly introduced Hyundai Ioniq 6N, and a camouflaged prototype of the upcoming Porsche Cayenne EV, fresh off its SUV record at another UK hillclimb event.
While many participants attend simply for exhibition runs, a select group enters "the shootout" with the explicit aim of achieving the fastest time. Ford, in a clear demonstration of its ambition, brought its highly specialized electric SuperTruck to compete. This one-of-a-kind prototype electric vehicle, boasting over 1,400 horsepower, is nominally based on the F-150 Lightning but has been heavily modified with advanced aerodynamic features, a lowered chassis, and race-specific tires. Piloted by the seasoned driver Romain Dumas, who has consistently driven Ford's electric prototypes since 2022, the SuperTruck was engineered for victory.
The inherent characteristics of electric powertrains lend themselves exceptionally well to hillclimb events. Their immediate low-end torque allows for rapid acceleration from a standstill, providing a significant advantage over gasoline-powered rivals. Furthermore, electric vehicles maintain consistent power output regardless of altitude, unlike internal combustion engines that experience power loss in oxygen-depleted environments. This advantage was previously demonstrated by Ford's SuperTruck at the Pike's Peak hillclimb, where it also achieved overall victory. Ford's success at Goodwood this year echoes its performance last year with the SuperVan, which shares a similar electric powertrain and also dominated the hillclimb. This year, the SuperTruck outpaced its primary competitor, a Subaru WRX driven by Scott Speed, by nearly two seconds.
Although the SuperTruck's performance was outstanding, it did not break the all-time Goodwood hillclimb record, ranking fifth overall. The top spots are held by purpose-built race cars: the gas-powered Gould GR51, an F1 car, the electric VW ID.R, and the electric McMurtry Spierling "fan car." It is noteworthy that the SuperTruck, a significantly larger vehicle, still managed to outperform all other contenders at this year's event, serving as a powerful testament to the inherent advantages and competitive potential of electric vehicle technology.
The consistent success of Ford's electric prototypes at major motorsports events highlights a transformative trend in automotive performance. This continuous demonstration of electric power, from the SuperVan to the SuperTruck, suggests a future where silent, powerful electric vehicles increasingly set new benchmarks in speed and efficiency, challenging traditional notions of high-performance automotive engineering. The future of racing appears to be unequivocally electric.