EVs are here to stay. Like morning after dawn, a new day is coming and there is no way to stop it. Sorry to be Barney Buzzkill, but the world is changing and we can either get on board or get out of the way. The latter isn’t an option as it will leave the future of the automobile in the hands of car haters, tech bozos, and party poopers. We can’t let that happen.

Ford’s Mustang Mach-E has created a cacophony of discord since its introduction, and whether you agreed with the Blue Oval including it under its pony car umbrella or not, we think it’s a stroke of marketing of genius. If there ever was a textbook example of the old school newspaper term “Ink is ink,” this marketing ploy by Ford is it.  It created a global conversation that spread like wildfire around the planet. That certainly wouldn’t have happened had its EV CUV been named E-Flex or something as equally banal.

So what would it take to convince those who are EV hesitant? I hate to leverage the madness of the last 18 months for a pun, but since all decorum went out the window after the lockdown, I shamelessly concede.

For starters, the way to get more people to think positively about EVs is to make cool electric models. Toyota has almost single-handedly sullied the movement with the extraordinarily boring Prius, which attracted a flock of nerds who bought the car as a Portlandia political statement. It is the antithesis of everything car enthusiasts stand for.

If the next chapter of the automobile is electric, let’s have some fun, yes? That’s why we bring you these renderings from Abimelec Arellano and his take on flavorful EV Mustangs. The first is a Shelby GT-e and it looks good all gussied up. The most powerful version of the current Mustang Mach-E has 480 stinkin’ horsepower so it ain’t a big stretch to re-image a range-topping Shelby model.

Or how about a Rally car version?  Aside from looking cool and beefy all jacked up with big off-road wheels and fender flares, the styling seems to work better when “hiked up” for off-tarmac use. Truth be told, the idea of an offroad EV racer with still-not-up-to-speed battery tech is a stretch to say the very least, but remember it’s just an idea for now.

Ford has been pushing the Mustang Mach-E as a police vehicle all over the world as well, and maybe some of the heavy-duty bits used for the “Fuzz” version could be utilized for off-road use. What would be good fun is mixing up new-age folks with hardcore racers. Perhaps fire-roasted tofu sticks and hard seltzer might find a new audience.

If Ford were to produce models like this, would it change your mind? Or would you remain unconvinced?  We think quirky, big horsepower rigs that never need gas would be the antidote to boring electric vehicles. I know that for many folks here, all of this is blasphemous, but if you really want to get your nose out of joint, check this Abemilec rendering of a low-rider GT40 we recently covered.