Mustang Mach-E Rally is Ford's first off-road EV

In the American West, the mustang is a wild horse that roams free. For the first time since that breed of horse landed on a fender in April 1964, a Ford Mustang will be able to gallop beside a real mustang.

At England's Goodwood Festival of Speed on Friday, Ford took the wraps off the Mustang Mach-E Rally, the automaker's first production-intent off-road electric vehicle.

Ford said it will open order books for the Mach-E Rally this fall and offer the vehicle initially in the U.S. and Europe. Ford did not say when deliveries of the Mach-E Rally will start. The standard street version of the Mach-E is available in 40 global markets.

Rally car driver Ott Tänak was scheduled to drive a pre-production Mach-E Rally up Goodwood's famous hill on Friday.

"Mustang Mach-E took the freedom and fun of Mustang and made it free from emissions," Darren Palmer, vice president of electric vehicle programs for Ford Model e, said in a statement. "Now with Mustang Mach-E Rally, we're providing our customers the freedom to venture off the asphalt and beyond the beaten path."

No word yet on the Mach-E Rally's technical details such as drivetrain layout, charging times and range. And engineers will have their hands full readying the Mach E for off-road duty on gravel, dirt and rocks.

For example, engineers have to ensure that the floor-mounted battery pack can't easily be damaged by rocks, logs and other wilderness obstacles. And the motors, battery and power electronics have to be kept cool under extended duress, not just during the quick blasts of acceleration on the standard Mach-E.

Ford said U.S. sales of its EVs have climbed 12 percent this year through June. But inventories of EVs are growing at the nation's dealerships.