Author: Tuantuan

This year marks the beginning of the war for traditional car companies’ transformation to electrification.

Now, if someone were to ask me which flagship electric vehicles from traditional automakers are worth anticipating, I would say that they include the BMW iX, Mercedes-Benz EQS, Cadillac LYRIQ, and Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Essentially, these are all good pure electric models, but the prices of the BMW iX and Mercedes-Benz EQS are difficult for more consumers to accept, and the Cadillac LYRIQ has yet to be formally launched.

So, how does the Ford Mustang Mach-E – which appears to be the only option currently available – perform?

As for Appearance

You can find many design elements belonging to the Mustang family on the Ford Mustang Mach-E, especially the muscular lines on the body and the design of the taillights.

But undoubtedly, the most striking thing is the logo on the front of the car, which lights up at night, showing off its identity.

As for appearance, it’s a matter of personal preference. But for me, I think the Ford Mustang Mach-E is still a very good-looking model.

Without further ado, here are a few pictures for everyone to enjoy:

Putting an end to the “dullness” of electric vehicles

• In November 2019, we went to Jet Center, a small civil airport in downtown Los Angeles, and were invited to witness the global unveiling of the Ford Mustang Mach-E in front of car enthusiasts.

• In April of this year, this “electric pony” finally came to the domestic market, and it appeared before us as a domestically-produced vehicle.

• Now, Ford’s electrification transformation masterpiece, which has been dubbed as a “Tesla killer,” “In the name of Edison,” and “risking all the glory of the Ford Mustang,” has finally begun to be delivered.

At the beginning of the development of this car, Ford placed it in the Mustang family. As a result, the Mach-E was born with Ford’s uncompromising mission to driving pleasure in the era of electrification.

Previously, most of the Ford Mustang Mach-E test drives were held on racetracks, especially with this high-performance GT version. And its audience is young consumers who love driving enthusiasm and have a strong emotional attachment to the Mustang family. After all, if Mach-E’s driving experience does not live up to Mustang’s legacy, Mustang enthusiasts will not buy it.

Whether it was during the racetrack test drive before or during the few days I experienced it myself, I could clearly feel Ford’s profound expertise in driving calibration.

In the winding mountain roads, from entry to exit, the entire process is clean and neat. Moreover, the suspension support is very good, and there is no significant leaning to the side when driving through large curves.

# Ford Mustang Mach-E: A Pure EV SUV Designed for Both Daily Driving and Racing

Ford Mustang Mach-E features a front and rear dual-motor layout, with a maximum system power of 359kW, a maximum output torque of 860N·m, and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 3.65 seconds. While it’s effortless for daily driving and weekend mountain trips with speed limits, it’s challenging to unleash its true potential. Therefore, Ford Mustang Mach-E GT is more like a pure electric SUV designed for racing.

However, at least for now, on the current market, most people buy electric cars mainly for daily driving, even though they may occasionally take them to the mountains or tracks.

Then, besides racing and passion, what kind of American-style electric car is Ford Mustang Mach-E? Can it present a different side?

Localization is Essential for the Chinese Market

Although China is not the country with the highest electrification rate globally, it is undoubtedly the most crucial market during the global electrification transformation process.

The most fundamental reason why we need localization is that the usage scenarios, habits, and needs of Chinese consumers are slightly different from those of overseas countries. Facing the continuous development of intelligent network connectivity of independently-branded cars, joint venture brands and global brands need to make changes and efforts to meet the needs of Chinese consumers.

Clearly, Ford has realized this point long ago. The most apparent localization feature on Ford Mustang Mach-E is its intelligent cockpit with Ford SYNC+ developed in partnership with Baidu.

The All-New SYNC+ System Performs Well

Ford Mustang Mach-E adopts a wide-screen full LCD instrument panel, which seems to be smaller than that of most models on the market, but its advantage is that the information displayed is more concise.

In addition to core information such as vehicle condition and driving, the instrument panel only displays warning reminders and ADAS visualization, without showing any irrelevant driving information, such as music, radio, or lyrics.

This way, the display of core information becomes very clear, which can significantly improve the driver’s efficiency and the safety of driving scenarios.# Ford Mustang Mach-E: A New Era of Smart Driving

When it comes to the central control screen, Ford Mustang Mach-E features a 15.5-inch vertical large screen with a magic floating knob designed on the screen. The primary function of the magic knob is to quickly adjust the volume. By clicking the center of the knob, the sound can be temporarily silenced or restored.

Moreover, Ford Mustang Mach-E has equipped the knob with cool animated effects.

Why do I say that Ford has long realized the importance of localizing for the Chinese market?

I still remember around 2016, Ford released the “Ford SYNC® 3” system, which was a decent car entertainment system among traditional automakers at that time. In 2019, I test drove Ford’s Taurus, which was equipped with an early version of the Ford SYNC+ system in cooperation with Baidu. That system left me with a good impression.

Now, the new SYNC+ system HMI interface loaded on Ford Mustang Mach-E is more digitized and feature-rich, which is in summary: more user-friendly. The bottom of the SYNC+ system also sets up a Dock bar, which mainly includes settings for air conditioning and seat heating.

In the middle area, SYNC+ system has designed a sliding function card that includes functions such as Baidu Maps, Ximalaya, phone, iQiyi, smart parking, takeout, and more services, involving ecological contents and services such as audiovisual entertainment, life assistance, considerate services, voice services, and exploring surroundings.

In addition to commonly used functions in driving scenarios such as Baidu Maps, Ximalaya, phone, and more services displayed on the home page’s common cards, you can customize the display on the home page according to personal usage habits.

The function completeness is relatively comprehensive. For example, through the Ford Mustang Mach-E, you can complete the entire process of booking movie tickets, rather than just staying at the query level. For example, we can search for popular movies, and it will display cinemas nearby with movie resources. Then, we can continue to select a viewing time, the number of viewers, and seats. Finally, we can perform online payment.

The voice assistant of Ford Mustang Mach-E is also well designed, using Baidu Xiaodu’s voice assistant engine. “Dianma Tongxue” can wake up the voice assistant, and it supports modifying the wake-up words.

In the music playback and map interface, there are also quick wake-up shortcuts, such as map zoom in, map zoom out, 3D view, head-up view, previous track, next track, and so on.

Lastly, the cabin SoC of Ford Mustang Mach-E uses the Qualcomm 820A chip. Compared to some models that were delivered this year and also equipped with the 820A chip but have frequent problems, the functionality and interactive experience of Ford Mustang Mach-E are very good, and the interaction is very smooth without any lag.

Therefore, like Ford, a traditional brand with profound car-making skills, they pursue “stability” more. Only by establishing a stable foundation can they create more innovations.

Blue Cruise Frees Your Hands

In addition to the Ford SYNC+ system, this Ford Mustang Mach-E is also equipped with the Blue Cruise driver assistance system.

In terms of sensing hardware, Ford Mustang Mach-E is equipped with one front mono camera and five millimeter-wave radars, and the mono camera uses Mobileye’s EyeQ 4 visual processing chip.

The functionality of Ford Blue Cruise is very similar to General Motor’s Super Cruise. They can both achieve hands-free driving under the supervision of the DMS camera in the “map” coverage area. However, the biggest difference is that General Motor’s Super Cruise uses high-precision maps, while Ford Blue Cruise uses the ADAS maps of Yitong.

Compared to high-precision maps, the coverage of ADAS maps will be wider, especially in cities like Beijing that are “not easy” to obtain high-precision maps. The models we previously experienced with high-precision maps could only be used after driving two to three kilometers outside the fifth ring road, and more of the covered roads were high-speed roads.

During my experience this time, I found that Ford Mustang Mach-E’s Blue Cruise would start immediately after leaving the fifth ring road, and it can also be used on city expressways like Tonghui River North Road.During the use of Blue Cruise, the DMS camera will monitor the driver’s gaze in real-time to ensure they are looking at the road ahead, even when wearing a mask during the pandemic. The reaction of the system is sensitive and accurate.

Overall, Cadillac’s Super Cruise intelligent driving system significantly reduces fatigue during long-distance driving. While other driver assistance systems that require frequent intervention still give the driver a sense of “being a driver,” Blue Cruise gives us a true feeling of “being a passenger.”

Final Thoughts

Through these past few days of experience, I have noticed many highlights of the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT.

Compared with the products of new-generation brands, Ford’s car-making experience brings a better driving and riding experience. In terms of intelligent cockpit and autonomous driving, the features of new-generation brands are more abundant and “fancy,” making it seem as though Ford is too conservative.

However, I don’t think so. I think Ford, like most traditional automakers, has chosen a steady and progressive path.

Comparing products of the same level, let’s look at Volkswagen’s ID series and BMW’s iX3. This year, the ID family has started to gradually gain momentum in the Chinese market, with monthly sales breaking ten thousand. The iX3 also has excellent driving performance, and iDrive 7.0 system based on Tencent’s scenarios after localized processing.

However, the advantages of the Ford Mustang Mach-E exceed theirs.

For example, compared to Volkswagen ID, the Ford Mustang Mach-E has better driving performance and longer range, to say nothing of its intelligent cockpit and autonomous driving capabilities.

Compared to BMW iX3, the driving assistance configuration of which is only at the L2 level, the Ford Mustang Mach-E’s Blue Cruise is obviously superior with equal driving and intelligent performance.If we compare their longest-range single-motor versions, we have:

• FAW-Volkswagen ID.6 CROZZ:

NEDC range of 565 km, priced at RMB 266,800-279,800;

• SAIC Volkswagen ID.6 X:

NEDC range of 588 km, priced at RMB 265,888-278,888;

• Ford Mustang Mach-E:

CLTC range of 619 km, priced at RMB 282,000-309,900;

• BMW iX3:

NEDC range of 500 km, priced at RMB 399,900.

First of all, CLTC range is stricter than NEDC range, but the long-range version of the Ford Mustang Mach-E is the only one with CLTC range and the highest data. Of course, in terms of price, the Ford Mustang Mach-E is indeed higher than the Volkswagen ID family models, but users can buy longer range, better driving performance, and more advanced smart configurations.

As Ford’s first official shot at electrification, we have seen its ability and sincerity in the Ford Mustang Mach-E. Although it appeared a bit later, it is undoubtedly an excellent electric SUV model in today’s domestic electric vehicle market.

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.