Ford Performance took to Twitter to tease its first crate electric motor ahead of its official debut at the 2021 SEMA show. Called the Eluminator, Ford showed off three diagrams of the electric motor with one featuring measurements. At 570 mm or around 22.4 inches, this unit is compact enough to fit in nearly every vehicle you can think of. In terms of height and width, the motor is 370 mm or 14.5 inches tall and 345 mm or 13.5 inches wide, further showing just how small this motor is and opening a lot of possibilities.
A tease for you: An electric crate motor for your restomod or project.
We call it the Eluminator. Available this fall – watch out for more at @SEMASHOW pic.twitter.com/tl4FfskM6X
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) August 19, 2021
The announcement of its first crate electric motor signals that Ford wants a piece of the pie in the restomod market. With so many aftermarket companies and shops now getting into electrifying everything from trucks to sports cars, there’s a lot of potential growth that can happen there. Additionally, this could preview what modding a battery-electric vehicle will be like since it will be completely different from tweaking cars with internal combustion engines. The three diagrams that Ford has shown also highlight key parts of the electric motor, which are in bright colors.
After showing it off at the 2021 SEMA Show during the first week of Nov., Ford Performance will officially offer the crate electric motor for sale around the same time. The Blue Oval has yet to release horsepower and torque output but we’d wager that it’ll be quite generous. It’s also likely that this electric motor can be mounted in the front or rear axles, which should allow companies doing restomods to create AWD setups. Another possibility would also be a three-motor configuration, which utilizes two electric motors in the rear and one in the front. Considering the compact dimensions of an electric motor, there are so many ways you can configure the powertrain based on the tuner’s intended goal.
This isn’t the first crate electric motor to debut because General Motors showed off a conversion kit last year in a K5 Chevrolet Blazer. Dubbed the Electric Connect & Cruise package, it swapped the SUV’s old V8 with a powertrain from a Chevrolet Bolt EV. That meant an electric motor with 200 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque backed by a 60-kWh battery. The K5 Blazer-E also featured an electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission from Chevrolet Performance. GM included the DC-to-AC power inverter that drives the electric motor, DC-to-DC power converter for powering the car’s electronics, controllers, wiring harnesses, and water pumps to help heat and/or cool the batteries. Beyond that, General Motors also experimented with all-electric Chevrolet Camaros with over 300 hp per motor.
We’re suspecting that Ford Performance is aiming to do something similar to what General Motors did for the K5 Blazer-E. However, we’ll have to wait until the 2021 SEMA Show to find out what components will be included along with the electric motor and what vehicle it’s being sourced from. If we were to make an educated guess, the Mustang Mach-E is the likely donor of this electric motor along with the rest of the necessary EV components. Whether Ford offers this as a second package that also includes a battery remains to be seen. For now, we know that this is strictly an electric motor, which could give tuners more flexibility by pairing with batteries from other manufacturers.
