Borla gives electric Mustang Mach-E a V8 exhaust note

As more cars lose their soundtrack in favour of electric powertrains, Borla has come up with a plan to keep ‘iconic exhaust notes’ alive.

The aftermarket exhaust manufacturer presented the audience with an unexpected display at the 2022 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show this week in the form of a Ford Mustang Mach-E.

If you didn’t already know, the Mach-e is fully electric and yet customers of the Shelby model wanted more sound.

And so Borla developed the Active Performance Sound system which makes use of a speaker beneath the car to pump out a variety of V8 exhaust notes of the user’s choosing.

The exhaust note is mapped to the EV’s accelerator inputs and mimics the speed, RPM, torque and load of its internal combustion engine counterpart without any lag.

A video clip showing the Mach-e “revving” sounds exactly like the soundtrack of a Mustang Shelby GT500. But users aren’t just limited to one tune as the “exhaust” can simulate the sound of a Chevrolet Corvette or Camaro at the press of a button.

Exhaust notes can be changed and fine tuned via Borla’s smartphone app, allowing the adjustment of tone, pitch, and other parameters.

Although the idea may seem pointless to some people, it will at least mean the future won’t be so quiet for us die-hard petrolheads.