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Barron’s writer Al Root drives the Ford Mustang Mach-E.
Al root
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Ford,
the company that pioneered affordable personal transportation over a century ago has hit drivers and shareholders with its new all-electric offering. The company looks set to make a real mark in the electrified new era of personal transportation.
Barron’s knows because we just spent the last few days roaming Connecticut in
Ford engineof
(ticker: F) new cross-sized Mustang Mach-E. It barely resembles the Mustangs of yesteryear, but it has a sleek style of its own, inside and out, as well as a real punch. While some electric vehicles – hello,
You’re here
! – may look more like space capsules than cars, there is just enough tradition in this Mustang to make you feel right at home. This may well set a new standard for electric vehicle enjoyment and ease.
Ford Mustang Mach E
Courtesy of Ford
Financial writers typically don’t rate cars, but the automotive industry is changing significantly. Investors believe electric vehicles are the future of personal transportation. This is why Elon Musk’s Telsa is now the world’s most valuable automaker with a margin roughly equal to the value of two
Toyota Engines
(TM). Figuring out which companies, if any, can catch Tesla requires getting behind the wheel, it’s not an unpleasant task. Barron’s, at this point drove a Tesla Model 3 with two engines, a Volvo Polestar and now a Mach-E.
The Mustang Mach-E is our favorite electric vehicle so far. The car is nice and fast, fast enough to generate butterflies. Our model went from zero to 60 in five seconds. The style and the nameplate caught our hearts. And, with prices starting at around $ 44,000, the Mach-E is within the grasp of many Americans.
The version we drove, the Mach-E First Edition is closest to Tesla’s twin-engine, all-wheel-drive Model Y. This car costs around $ 50,000, while the Mach-E First Edition costs around $ 60,000. But comparing models and features is an inaccurate science at best. Plus, first-time Mustang buyers will still be eligible for a $ 7,500 federal tax credit. Tesla has sold too many electric vehicles to continue to qualify for such credits.
The Model Y has better range – an EPA listing of 320 miles on a single charge, compared to 270 miles for the Mustang. In the cold northeast, Ford battery management software said it had a range of 240 miles. But reach is not everything in life. You have to look at the whole car experience.
The most surprising part of the test weekend wasn’t the driving, it was the reaction of other drivers and passers-by. Ford passed the neck rotation test.
People were uniformly impressed with the looks and many wanted to drive it. Tesla vehicles, in our experience, no longer elicit the same reaction. Of course, the Tesla S, X and 3 models have done this before, but people have grown used to their angular and futuristic appearance. Ford, based on the size of our sample, managed to create a really big buzz for the Mach-E.
It is good for the Ford company and for the Ford investors. Ford recently pledged to spend around $ 20 billion on electric and autonomous development by 2025. Adjusted for Ford’s size, that’s about as much as any other traditional automaker. Investors now have preliminary evidence that the money will be well spent.
Ford’s stock may already be getting some credit for the Mach-E. Shares are up nearly 31% year-to-date. More likely, however, it was better-than-expected quarterly results that boosted stocks.
Wall Street, despite new products and better profits, remains cautious about the title. About 22% of analysts covering the company’s rate shares Buy. Average purchase ratio of the shares of
Dow Jones Industrial Average
is about 57%.
Barron’s is more optimistic than the average analyst, who recently wrote positively about Ford. We said the new management could improve margins and lead the company into what Wedbush analyst Dan Ives calls the golden age of electric vehicles. Since this article appeared, the stock has risen by about 27%, better than the comparable gain of 7% from the
S&P 500.
Building quality electric vehicles at a price where traditional automakers can make a profit and defend the market share of all-electric companies like Tesla is essential for the actions of traditional automakers. Ford looks to have an early victory in this battle.
Barron’s has another idea for all electric vehicle manufacturers including Ford and Tesla. Today, electric vehicles all seem to have a giant iPad stuck to the dashboard. It’s a useful and futuristic interface, but it’s not really integrated or beautiful. Some intrepid auto designers should do something about it.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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