Making Mach-E A Mustang Was A Master Stroke By Ford

Making Mach-E A Mustang Was A Master Stroke By Ford

Since Ford announced its new electric vehicle would be called the Mustang Mach-E, I鈥檝e read many comments and articles (like this and this) complaining about the company鈥檚 choice. Some say it鈥檚 an insult to the Mustang name. Others say it鈥檚 a brazen marketing ploy. I say it鈥檚 a genius move that sets up Ford to become the first automaker with an EV that can truly challenge the dominance of Tesla. Let鈥檚 look at the EV landscape, shall we? You鈥檝e got Tesla selling roughly 77.7 percent of all electric vehicles in the U.S. The Tesla Model 3 alone represents around 60 percent of total EV sales in this country. The rest of the market is left for over a dozen other EVs to divide amongst themselves. Why have none of these automakers threatened Tesla鈥檚 dominance? The first reason is obvious: no EV on the market is as good as a Tesla, particularly the Model 3. They all fall short when comparing range, performance, pricing, and/or technology. Some get close in one measure yet fail to mount a challenge in the others, while others arrive on the scene woefully outgunned in all regards.

Love them or hate them, the Teslas have been unbeatable to date on the whole. The Mustang Mach-E is taking aim, though, at the upcoming Tesla Model Y, a crossover-ish version of the most popular EV in the world, the Model 3 sedan. What Ford has smartly done is make matching the Model Y spec-for-spec a must. 40K-range. They both have a maximum range of about 300 miles. Their 0-60 times will both range from around 5.5 seconds for standard models to 3.5 seconds for performance models. And they both have four doors, seat at least five people, and can carry a lot of cargo. Indeed, if you were looking only at their specs on paper, you couldn鈥檛 tell these two cars apart. Even if people are writing articles about how dumb Ford is for calling it the Mustang Mach-E, they鈥檙e talking about the car, and that鈥檚 all that matters.

The second reason no automaker has legitimately challenged Tesla before is that those brands and/or the EVs they鈥檙e selling just aren鈥檛 cool. Teslas are cool. Tesla are like Apple-cool circa 5-10 years ago. There鈥檚 a little extra something magical about the brand and its products that makes them stand apart from stodgy legacy automakers and their gas-cars-turned-electric. The Chevy Bolt, Audi e-tron, Jaguar I-Pace, Nissan Leaf, Mercedes-Benz EQC, and the like are all ground-up EVs that somehow still feel like there鈥檚 nothing special about them. Yes, they are all technically inferior to the Teslas, but they鈥檙e also so much less interesting and exciting. Incredibly, considering the conservative nature of automobile companies, Ford chose the latter. It鈥檚 a move not without risk, but I think the company hopes it results in two outcomes. The first is that people talk about Ford鈥檚 new EV. It doesn鈥檛 matter whether it鈥檚 good or bad talk. As Elon Musk knows, there鈥檚 no such thing as bad press; even if people are writing articles about how dumb Ford is for calling it the Mustang Mach-E, they鈥檙e talking about the car, and that鈥檚 all that matters.

A much worse outcome would be the fate of every other EV that's not named Tesla: being forgotten. Ford is paying the Mustang a huge compliment by hoping its coolness factor can help launch what is the future of its entire business. And the Mustang faithful might complain the loudest, as they have a right to. It鈥檚 their devotion to the Mustang brand that鈥檚 kept it relevant, successful, and secure for nearly 60 years. All I would say is that Ford is paying the Mustang a huge compliment by hoping its coolness factor can help launch what is the future of its entire business. It's too important to leave to Blue Oval branding alone. The Tesla Model 3 was estimated to have sold around 9,000 units in October and 123,000 or so units through the calendar year so far. If Ford鈥檚 not aiming for sales like those, the Mustang Mach-E can鈥檛 be considered the killer of anything. The only way to beat Tesla at the game it鈥檚 currently winning by a land slide is to take its customers or enlarge the segment enough to match them. For the future of electric vehicles as a whole, I hope the Mustang Mach-E accomplishes the latter.

They should call it the 聯Gelding聰. 40,000-50,000 for a range of 300 miles? And what will happen to the price of electricity as demand rises at an unprecedented rate. My electric supplier already rewards me for allowing them to shut off my air conditioner in the summer and my electric water heater in the winter during periods of high demand. If they're having a hard time meeting current (pun intended) demand now , what lies ahead? Especially since hydroelectric power plants are being taken off of the grid and 22 aging nuclear power plants have licenses that will expire before 2030 (unless current licenses are extended) and very few new nuclear plants are under construction. Exactly. This has been the point I have been making for years. EVs are simply elitist vehicles for those who want to drive solo in the car pool lanes and want the highest gas prices they can push for. Here in Ca, they have closed two of the three nuclear plants, are trying to close the other one and are pushing to remove dams that provide hydro power.