See You At The Charging Station!

See You At The Charging Station!

The atmosphere is getting positively electric. Ford Motor Co. F, -0.28% on Sunday finally lifted the curtain on its first battery-powered sport-utility vehicle, in a debut that鈥檚 poised to usher in a new era of fierce competition among automobile makers vying for the electric-car crown. And, most notably, Ford鈥檚 hotly anticipated launch of the Mustang Mach-E could be a big problem for industry darling Tesla TSLA, -0.57% . 1.21% feed isn鈥檛 exactly reflecting it. Congratulations on the Mach E! Sustainable/electric cars are the future! Excited to see this announcement from Ford, as it will encourage other carmakers to go electric too. For its part, Ford responded by saying, 鈥淭hanks, Elon. We couldn鈥檛 agree more. See you at the charging station! Of course, there鈥檚 a chance that鈥檚 just some public-facing goodwill at this point. According to Electrek, Musk was upset that Ford chose to unveil the new vehicle at a location near Tesla鈥檚 design center and adjacent to the hangar at the airport in Hawthorne, Calif., that Musk uses for his private jet. Either way, any bit of good sportsmanship between the two car companies will be put to the test as competition heats up in the coming years. And heat up it will. According to IHS Market, there are 18 electric vehicles for sale in the U.S. Shawn Langlois is an editor and writer for MarketWatch in Los Angeles. Follow him on Twitter @slangwise.

These are uncertain and strange times. Thankfully, there is still some consistency in the world if you look hard enough. And if there鈥檚 just one thing you can count on, it鈥檚 that Hennessey Performance Engineering will upgrade the power on a new American performance car. The latest being the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. Out of the gate, the new Shelby is rated at 760 horsepower, which is already a Hellcat-beating seismic accomplishment. But gluttony for more horsepower never ends, and Hennessey says will offer the Venom 1200 package, which will give this cobra enough bite to produce as 1,200 horsepower at the crank, with 1,000 lb-ft of torque to go with it. Pricing is not yet available, and there鈥檚 no telling yet how many of these HPE plans on building. Then again, it鈥檚 also odd that the tuning company is already making such proclamations when the 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500 has yet to hit the market, as they have to wait in line for one like everybody else. Along with the the HPE1200 package, the Texas tuning company plans on offering a Venom 850 and Venom 1000 packages for the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 as well. All of the packages vary, with the Venom 850 largely being bolt-on upgrades such as an exhaust kit and a smaller supercharger pulley to produce 850 horsepower and 725 lb-ft of torque on 93-octane fuel. The Venom 1000 package is expected to add a 3.0L supercharger upgrade (up from the stock 2.65 liter unit), a fuel delivery upgrade, transmission upgrade, and more. The Venom 1200 package is highlighted by a set of twin-turbos strapped to the engine as opposed to the supercharger. This also tunes the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 to run on either E85 or 109-octane race fuel in order to produce the four-figure power numbers. And whereas the Venom 850 package has a 3-year, 36,000 mile warranty, the Venom 1000 and Venom 1200 GT500 packages have only 1-year, 12,000 mile warranties. Below is a full breakdown of what Hennessey says it will do for each package.

Ford just announced an electric crossover that will make up to 459 horsepower, produce 612 lb-ft of torque, sprint to 60 mph in under four seconds, and go around 300 miles on a charge. 43,895. The sticking point: Ford called it a Mustang. More specifically, it's the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E. Bestowing the Mustang name on an electric crossover is certainly a bold decision. This is the first four-door Mustang, the first electrified Mustang, the first crossover Mustang, and even the first Mustang available with all-wheel drive. When they decided to expand the badge beyond pony cars, Ford went all out. What Ford is trying to stress, though, is that the Mustang is not defined by its powertrain or form factor. The Mustang is about accessible performance, driving excitement, and freedom, whether it comes in the conventional format or something completely new. The top-trim GT Performance Edition has the aforementioned 459 horsepower and mid-three-second 0-60 time, but even the lesser Mach-E extended-range all-wheel-drive model will make 332 horsepower鈥?2 more than the base EcoBoost Mustang coupe.

The electric crossover will also offer magnetic dampers on its top trim, Brembo brakes, and three drive modes. You'll be able to specify standard or extended-range battery packs and rear or all-wheel drive. All GT models will be all-wheel drive, but the configuration with the most range will be the extended-range pack with rear-wheel drive, good for over 300 miles on the EPA cycle. 60,500 for the GT (before options). From the outside, Ford's new EV has clearly taken some styling cues from the current Mustang. The clear taillights share their design with the current coupe, and the headlights and rear haunches scream Mustang, but the general shape is, of course, unlike any Mustang before. And whether you go for the GT with its more pronounced "grill" or the body-colored nose of lower trims, the Mach-E flaunts the fact that it hardly needs any cooling airflow through its nose. Taken as a whole, it's more fresh and unique than it is pretty. Inside, the Mach-E is a completely new direction for Ford.

Clearly inspired by another American EV manufacturer, the Ford's interior is dominated by a massive 15.5-inch portrait-oriented touch screen with one central knob to control stereo volume and connected services including a "Hey Ford" digital assistant built in. Ford also says the car will learn about your habits, suggesting destinations and phone calls based on your weekly routine. More importantly, the onboard navigation system will plan routes that include charging stops. It'll take advantage of the FordPass Charging Network, which bundles a few popular charging station brands into one app to give Mach-E owners access to over 12,500 charging locations. The Mach-E can charge at up to 150kW, which will take your battery from 10 percent to 80 percent in 38 minutes, or give you a quick 47-mile range top-up in about 10 minutes. Thanks to that four-door crossover silhouette, storage space is impressive, with 59.6 cubic feet of cargo capacity with the rear seats folded. That's in addition to the frunk, which can fit a carryon and a purse or鈥攕ince it's fully drainable鈥攁 bunch of ice and drinks for a tailgate.