After a tough 2025 race where it won its class but only came in 2nd place overall, Ford brought its Super Mustang Mach-E back for revenge and managed to beat every gas car up the hill at the world’s toughest road race event.
The Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb is one of the longest-running races in the world, being held 103 times since 1916.
It’s a famously difficult race, starting at an already-high 9,390ft (2,862m) in elevation and finishing at 14,110ft (4,300m), with an average 7.2% vertical grade. Until 2011, the track was largely unpaved on dirt or gravel roads, and it is still not uncommon for cars to leave the track and crash into the woods or, worse, end up tumbling down the mountain. The race is also commonly stopped by rain, snow, fog, or other inclement weather… of the type you commonly get at the top of mountains.
In particular, the high altitude nature of the race (which earned it the nickname “Race to the Clouds”) has always been difficult, because at high altitudes there is less oxygen, which means less complete combustion of fuel. This means that gas-powered race vehicles need to have incredibly oversized engines to do well.
That difficulty does not apply to electric vehicles since EVs don’t need oxygen for combustion, so for years EVs have overperformed in the race. In fact, the all-time record for the 12.42-mile (20km) hillclimb, 7:57.148, was set by the all-electric Volkswagen ID.R in 2018, driven by Romain Dumas (put a pin in that name).
Other EVs do well at the race, too. In past years we’ve seen the Ioniq 5N and Rivian Quad set records, and good runs from the likes of Tesla and even Faraday Future.
So it’s been somewhat of a playground for EVs due to the altitude, and Ford in particular has brought several cars in the past. It started with the SuperVan, then the SuperTruck, each of which won the race in their respective years (the SuperVan set a record, but the SuperTruck did not, due to a technical issue which cause it to shut down for 30 seconds, and it still won the race that year).
But then Ford decided to stop playing around and bring a real racecar, instead of silly vans. Last year, it ran the 1400 horsepower Super Mustang Mach-E, which bears roughly zero resemblance to the consumer-available electric sport SUV, and looks more like a custom GT racecar.
And to show it was serious, Ford hired Romain Dumas, one of the most experienced drivers on this track (remember that name? the guy with the record?).
Last year was a tough race due to weather, Ford wanted to come back for revenge
Unfortunately in 2025, the race saw inclement weather, with high winds at the top of the mountain. This was considered a hazard due to the chance of rocks and debris being blown onto the track, which could result in cars going off (yes, this has happened many times in the past, and people have died, so they take safety seriously).
So, half the track was closed, and the EVs didn’t get as much of the high-altitude advantage as they usually do, as they tend to make up more time the higher they get on the track.
As a result, the Mustang won its class, but lost to an ultralight prototype racecar, the Nova Proto NP01 piloted by Simone Faggioli, which won by 5 seconds.
In an interview after the 2025 race, Dumas said his Ford would have likely had the advantage if the full track was open, due to lighter air at the top, but that “the mountain decides.”
So, Ford decided it would come back for revenge, to see if Dumas was right. And today, the mountain decided differently.
2026 race sees EV/Dumas crowned “King of the Mountain”
This year, the EV qualified well, but didn’t set the best qualifying time. But qualifying, just like last year’s race, only takes into account the bottom half of the mountain course. So even though the Mustang qualified 7 seconds behind Faggioli’s NP01, there was a good chance the EV would win when the full course was taken into account.
And win it did. With the full course open and now that the race running is all over and accounted for, we can see that the Super Mustang Mach-E’s time of 8:18.202 prevailed by more than 11 seconds over 2nd place Robin Shute, a former engineer at Tesla and Faraday Future, in the open-wheel Sendycar V1, an ultralight custom-built formula style racecar. Last year’s winner, Simone Faggioli, came in third in his NP01.
That’s almost half a minute faster than the previous SuperVan time of 8:47.682, also set by Romain Dumas, showing that a real racecar does indeed perform better than a giant box. Though that record was technically in the “Pike’s Peak Open” class, and the Super Mustang Mach-E competed in the “Unlimited – Production-based” class, so the SuperVan record remains.
Today’s time is, however, 21 seconds slower than Romain Dumas’ overall record of 7:57.148 in the VW ID.R (also electric). The VW ID.R competed in the “unlimited” class, so it still holds that record.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E was not the only EV that tried to compete this year, with Evasive Motorsports entering its Ioniq 5N into the competition. However, the car was damaged during practice sessions, and couldn’t compete on race day.
You can see a replay of the livestream here. Dumas’ run starts about 2:46 into the broadcast.
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