Ford’s all-electric Mach-E: a “ Mustang ” in name only

Ford’s engineering executives participated in teleconference press tours this fall to support the company’s first consumer electric vehicle, to be built in Mexico, with global sales of around 50,000 in the first year. They explained how, at the end of the design phase, Vice President Jim Farley (now CEO) sent the team back to the drawing boards with the order to make the then unnamed project more Mustang-ish-plus. slanted windshield, faster hatch, blackened- on the C-pillar – until finally someone offered to call it a Mustang.

Really? That four-door sedan sitting high with daddy yelled Mustang at the management? It is surprising. Ford executives are repeating this story as if it were not a parable of creative laziness.

Don’t be a killjoy. Some of the Mustang-themed features are lovely: the three-bar taillights; the bright galloping mustang logo in the nose (GT trim and above). The three driving modes are “Whisper”, “Engage” and “Unbridled”. Oh darling! The latter mode corresponds to a typical sport mode, putting a sharper edge on throttle response and adding weight to the steering feel. Unbridled mode also allows for some value of wheel slip, both on the front and rear axles, so you can roll around a bit … sorry.

Idiomatic note: In cars on the UK market, the sport mode is called Untamed. Grrr. No word on the ripped bodice padding.

Under the floor, pouch-style lithium-ion battery packs are grouped into 68 or 88 kWh packs (standard and extended runtime), for which LG Chem has to charge a pretty penny. The base MSRP is $ 42,895 (RWD, 230 miles) before any federal, state or local inducements. Our twin-engine all-wheel drive version with the larger battery (270 mile range) sold for $ 56,200. That’s $ 6,300 more than the Model Y with long-range all-wheel drive.

Talk about nostalgia. The Mach-E’s high price tag reflects Ford’s management’s oft-repeated insistence that, among its other miracles, the program must generate a profit from the start. Why? It took years of investment and rivers of red ink before Tesla broke the corner of profitability.

Ford’s first-year effort, while worthy in many ways, falls short of the Teslas in terms of range, quick charge support, sophistication, brand value and driver assistance. So where does Ford charge more? This thing needs a $ 10,000 haircut.

Monthly payments notwithstanding, the Mach-E feels great. The cabin is light and airy (thanks to a full-length panoramic roof), buttoned up and well appointed. The centerpiece of the interior, the 15.5-inch vertical touchscreen, is a thing to see, like a Big Print edition of infotainment. It is equipped with the latest version of Ford’s SYNC 4A interface, which works great. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless charging … you know the drill.

The EV mechanism is serene and refined, slow or fast. Yet, against the acoustical backdrop of a missing engine and transmission, the remaining sources of noise in the cabin – howling tires, wind around the exterior mirrors – can work their way through the tidy hum. If the silence gets too loud, drivers can activate a synthesized performance sound that swells in the cabin, rising and falling with torque output. Some people call me the Space Cowboy, yeah …

The Mach-E also offers the selectable option of one-pedal driving, which increases the regenerative drag / retardation of the freewheeling car to the point where drivers rarely have to engage the brake pedal. Works very well. The only issue I had with the ride was the slight sensitivity of the brake pedal in two-pedal mode.

Ford may be rightly mented for tapping into the Mustang brand, but also plays with it, betting that the new car is charismatic enough to change the generational conversation, from track bars and Tremec five gears to amps and watts.

In this job, the Mach-E has a natural ally: acceleration. With a fun 0-60 feature ranging from 6.1 seconds (Extended Range, RWD) to 3.5 seconds targeted (GT Performance Edition eAWD), even the slowest Mach-E will glide, sing, and sizzle at a stroke. head or whistle. Our full-range all-wheel-drive tester – with front and rear electric motors totaling 346 horsepower and 428 lb-ft – could hit 60 mph in less than five seconds of flight. They could have called it the Zephyr.

On the freeways, our garnet-red tester leaped effortlessly to grasp the openings in traffic, a ruthless device taking advantage of stumbled-footed gassers around us. Delta V’s overshoot Mach-E reserves only start to deplete at around 90 mph.

If the Mach-E actually makes converts – if that theoretical old-school Mustang fan walks into a showroom, scratching his stomach, thinking Mach-E, eh? Damn, I’ll give it a try – it’ll be in those first few miles of a test drive, when they know the fine control torque, the lag-free throttle response that makes EVs feel so fast.

For the sake of efficiency, gasoline Mustangs typically putter in a semi-drowsy state – at high speed, at low revs, with throttle response fully sedated. But let’s say a question of honor suddenly arises and you have to take the plunge. From the moment you step on the pedal, it can take hundreds of milliseconds for a gasoline engine to wind up, from the turbos to the output shaft. Meanwhile, a concatenation of clutches, gears, shafts and axles must be quickly rearranged by their electromechanical masters.

At this point, the Mach-E already puts couples on the ground. Mustangs might like it.

2021 FORD MUSTANG MACH-E ER EAWD

Base price: $ 49,700 ($ 7,500 tax credit available)

Price, as tested: $ 56,200

Powertrain: Permanent magnet AC synchronous motors mounted on the front and rear axles; 88 kWh lithium-ion battery; AWD

Power / torque: 346 hp / 428 lb-ft

Length / Width / Height / Wheelbase: 185.6 / 74.1 / 64.0 / 117.5 inch

Unloaded weight: 4.838 lb

0 to 100 km / h: 4.8 seconds

DC fast charge: Up to 150 kW

EPA Estimated Range: 270 kilometers

Loading space: 29.7 cu. ft.

Write to Dan Neil at [email protected]

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