Mustang Mach-E Electric SUV officially unveiled
At 10:30 a.m. on November 18th Beijing time, the all-new electric SUV from Ford, the Mustang Mach-E, was officially unveiled at a warehouse in Hawthorne Airport, USA.
Many car enthusiasts have difficulty accepting that an electric SUV uses the Mustang logo. In January 2018, Ford had previously exposed that the new electric high-performance SUV might be named Mach 1.
The Mustang Mach 1 is a performance package of the Ford Mustang, initially launched by Ford in August 1968, and was highly praised by car enthusiasts. The Mach 1 title later represented the high-performance Ford Mustang. However, the news was met with opposition from countless car enthusiasts, which forced Ford to reconsider their decision. Ultimately, the vehicle was still placed under the Mustang brand and named Mach-E, which shows Ford’s confidence in this new electric SUV.
After all, using the Mustang brand for an electric SUV is like Porsche launching the Cayenne years ago. If it fails, it will be a disaster.
Performance genes in the bones
On the outside, the Mach-E retains the fierce front face design of the Mustang family, combined with a sleek body shape, creating a strong sense of sportiness. At the same time, it retains some Mustang elements in the details, such as the two powerful raised lines on the hood and the three vertical bar taillights with the same design style as the Mustang. If Mustang originally intended to build a fuel SUV, the appearance would probably be similar, except for a fully enclosed front face.
But it goes without saying that performance is crucial for a car model with the Mustang badge.
In order to achieve performance, the Mach-E did not adopt the front-and-rear dual asynchronous motor layout or the front permanent magnet/rear asynchronous motor layout like many other manufacturers. Even the all-wheel drive version still uses the front and rear dual permanent magnet motors. Fortunately, the results did not disappoint us.
Even the slowest accelerating long-endurance rear-drive version can still reach 0-100 km/h in 6.5 seconds, while the high-performance GT version can even achieve it in 3.5 seconds.
Moreover, because the electric car battery is placed under the chassis, it has an innate advantage in terms of center of gravity compared to traditional fuel vehicles, so I have reason to believe that driving the Mach-E will be very fun.
In addition, while fulfilling performance, the Mach-E has not forgotten that its essential nature is still an electric car, and endurance is always an essential topic.
As Ford’s first global electric car, instead of retrofitting a past fuel car platform like many traditional manufacturers, it chose to directly use a brand new electric car platform.
Therefore, although the Mach-E is 472418801600 mm in length, width, and height respectively, which are normal mid-size SUV dimensions, the wheelbase reaches an astonishing 2972 mm. The BMW X5, as a mid-to-large-sized SUV, has a wheelbase of only 2975 mm.
The longer wheelbase means more batteries can be fitted, hence the standard range battery capacity is 75.7 kWh and the extended range battery capacity is 98.8 kWh when using LG soft pack batteries for the Mach-E, while even the extended range Model Y battery has a total capacity of only 81 kWh.
This allows the Mach-E standard range rear-wheel-drive version and the extended range rear-wheel-drive version to achieve an EPA range of 370 km and 480 km (estimated), respectively.
Of course, some may argue that Mach-E’s battery capacity is much larger than that of Model Y, but the range is almost the same and the energy consumption performance is mediocre.
However, from a practical standpoint, Mach-E is definitely among the top-tier in terms of its range, which is sufficient.
Moreover, thanks to its brand new electric platform, the Mach-E even has a front trunk with a volume of 136 L, proving that Ford has put enough effort into the Mach-E design.
From appearance to performance, the Mach-E demonstrates the Mustang’s essence.
To compensate for the fact that electric vehicles lack the primitive sound of an engine, Ford has designed a V8 exhaust sound effect for the Mach-E as a tribute to the V8 engine, although this may not be meaningful to some of us.
Intelligence and Performance Combined
Entering the interior, it is hard to imagine that this is a Mustang if the logo on the steering wheel is covered.
Gone are the rugged physical buttons and muscular lines, replaced by a simple design style and a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster and a 15.5-inch central touch screen. This interior would fit seamlessly into any other Ford vehicle.
However, in an interview with Darren Palmer, the global director of Ford’s pure electric vehicle project, this afternoon, I learned why.
We first decided to design an SUV. The next question is how to make this SUV more unique? The product must have uniqueness in order to stand out.To combine the performance of an electric car with a Mustang, we saw the possibility of creating a unique and emotional product. In the end, it is about equipping the car with more advanced technology to meet the growing demand for high-tech products from consumers. Therefore, we spent a lot of R&D time making sure the interior and central touch screen conform to future development trends.
In other words, the Mach-E was initially positioned as a family SUV, not an electric Mustang, which makes more sense now.
However, Mach-E did surprise me in terms of intelligence.
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Mach-E didn’t just include a big screen for the sake of it, unlike many traditional car manufacturers. Instead, it developed a new generation of SYNC®️ entertainment and information system. As seen in the picture, the 15.5-inch central touch screen adopts a new UI design, and the DOCK bar under the screen retains the most commonly used air conditioning settings area, making the overall logic clear.
The only thing I can’t understand is the physical volume knob under the central touch screen. Isn’t it more convenient to adjust the volume on the steering wheel than on the screen?
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Mach-E supports phone-based Bluetooth keyless entry, similar to Tesla Model 3. When the vehicle detects a nearby matched phone, it will automatically unlock the vehicle without needing to use the app to unlock it.
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Lastly, and most importantly, Mach-E supports OTA updates, which means that Ford may also improve convenience, add new functions, and even increase vehicle power or range through remote upgrades like Tesla in the future.
Looking back at Ford’s current vehicle infotainment systems, Ford doesn’t just do upgrades and optimizations on an existing basis; it is more like a complete overhaul. As Darren Palme, Ford’s global director of electric vehicle programmes, put it:
It’s the greatest change and opportunity in the auto industry in 30 years, and probably a lot longer. Today’s performance BEV isn’t just about the electric motor.> It’s about software, surprises, over-the-air updates, cleverness, the fact it can learn and anticipate what you want, and makes your life better. It’s an entirely new kind of product. Those who try it will never go back.
This is the biggest change and opportunity for the automotive industry in 30 years – and it may be much longer. Today’s high-performance electric cars are not just about motors. It’s about software, surprises, over-the-air updates, cleverness, the fact it can learn and anticipate what you want, and makes your life better. It’s an entirely new type of product. Those who try it will never go back.
Detroit vs. Silicon Valley
Many people think that Ford is aiming at Tesla’s Model Y when they see some of the parameters and intelligent features of the Mach-E. Let’s compare some of the relevant parameter information between the Mach-E and Model Y first.
At first glance, apart from the high-performance version, there is not much difference between the two in terms of endurance and acceleration – Model Y has a clear advantage in price, and Tesla has an advantage that is difficult to show in the table – Autopilot has been evolving continuously.
However, due to the existence of the US electric vehicle subsidy policy, each brand has a subsidy quota of 200,000 vehicles, and the subsidy amount is $7,500. That is, brands can receive full subsidies of $7,500 for cumulative sales of up to 200,000 vehicles. After cumulative sales reach 200,000 vehicles, the subsidy gradually decreases over the next six months.
However, Tesla reached the 200,000 sales mark as early as 2018, and from 2020 onwards, the subsidy will be zero, while Ford still has a quota of at least 200,000 electric vehicles eligible for $7,500 in subsidies.
Therefore, in the US market, Mach-E and Model Y are almost in direct competition.
In addition, Ford and Tesla have a long history together.
Ford’s models back in the day used to be Model A, B, C, F, K, N, R, and S. Meanwhile, Musk named Tesla’s models with four letters – S, E, X, Y, and sports cars are separate.
However, Ford stole Tesla’s sexy wish. Ford refused to let Tesla use Model E. In 2013, Ford and Tesla competed to register the Model E trademark, and Ford finally obtained the qualification. Therefore, Tesla had to use the number 3, which looks similar to E, instead.
In October 2017, to better develop electric vehicles, Ford formed an “Edison team”.
Why establish a new start-up company internally?
Actually, it’s simple. Within traditional car companies, due to process issues, the efficiency of collaboration between departments is relatively low. If we continue to develop new electric vehicles in this way, not only will the speed be slow, but more importantly, many innovative features may be difficult to implement due to various problems.
The pace of the electric vehicle battlefield is much faster than that of traditional fuel vehicles, and there was not much time left for Ford.
This team is a start-up company within the company, consisting of people from different functional departments within Ford. The reason for naming it Edison is partly a tribute to the collaboration between Henry Ford and Edison a hundred years ago, and partly because of its connection with Tesla. After all, a hundred years ago, Edison and Tesla were archrivals.
Let’s go back to the press conference. At the beginning, I mentioned that Mach-E made an appearance in a warehouse at Hawthorne Airport in the United States. This warehouse is only a hundred meters away from Space X, founded by Elon. Even the Cybertruck of Tesla will be officially released in the design center of Space X on the 22nd.
Isn’t this too much of a coincidence? Therefore, in terms of both product and Ford’s actions, it is foreseeable that the old man of Detroit and the young man of Silicon Valley are about to contend.
Finally, looking at the global picture, China’s new forces in car making, such as NIO, XPeng, and WM, although they are not large in size, are running desperately with the attitude of fighting to the death.
Traditional European car companies have also embarked on their transformation path, such as Volkswagen’s ID. series and Mercedes’ EQ series have also arrived on the battlefield.
The arrival of the era of electrification is faster than we imagined.
And from the debut of Mach-E, Ford is ready to start the new round of the world war in the automotive industry.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.