(November 18, 2019) Ford has just unveiled the fully electric Mustang Mach-E. The new EV promises the performance of the fossil-fueled version but with far more practicality. However, naming the EV a Mustang has riled up some supporters of the gas model .
Ford made a bold move to use the Mustang brand for the EV
Even though there may be some negative reaction to the move it has probably drawn attention to the car that it would not otherwise have had. Perhaps any publicity is good publicity. A new name or that of another existing Ford vehicle would likely not have garnered so much interest.
Design is quite different from the existing Mustang
The Mach-E has a quite different front grille from the traditional Mustang. It has a nose matching the SUV's body color. Electric vehicles tend to need less direct air cooling. This has led automakers to become clever with design. However, the move is bound to elicit scorn from some who love the traditional design.
Features
The Mach-E has a decent range for an all-electric vehicle of up to 300 miles of range. The price range will be between $44,000 to over $60,000. State and Federal tax incentives will help lower the price but the Mach-E is still a premium car.
The Mach-E will not ship for about a year but the models recently tested felt like a complete package even though the software is not yet close to working according to Sean O'Kane of Verge.
Details of different versions of the Mach-E are available in a Verge article.
The Mach-E is said to have a lot of head room by O'Kane and leg room as well especially since it is small as SUVs go. The car also has a USB-C port and also a wireless charging mat a boon for techies. There is a large front trunk and deep storage places in both the doors and the center console.
The 15.5 inch touchscreeen was not yet functional. However, it has a simple digital instrument cluster with basic information. There is also a driver monitoring system. Ford eventually wants a hands-free driving system and the monitoring system will be a safety feature for when that occurs.
Comparisons with Teslas
The forthcoming Tesla Model Y will have similar specs to the Mach-E and is scheduled to be released around the same time.
Shortly after the unveiling event, Elon Musk CEO of Tesla congratulated Ford on the Mach-E tweeting: “Sustainable/electric cars are the future!! Excited to see this announcement from Ford, as it will encourage other carmakers to go electric too."
Ford may end up in financial difficulty
]Ford is committed to a huge investment over the next years: "Ford Motor Company said Sunday that it would more than double its investment in the production of electric vehicles, promising to spend $11 billion on the technology by 2022. The auto giant will roll out 16 fully electric cars within five years, the first of which would arrive in 2020."
O'Kane thinks that Ford made the right choice in going ahead producing the premium and superior Mach-E rather than a slightly improved Ford Focus as they earlier planned. However, the latter vehicle might have been cheaper and more suitable for a mass market. It remains to be seen how many are willing to plump down a fairly high sum for the Mach-E when the entire EV market is just a small fraction of the existing new automobile market.
In May of this year Ford cut 7,000 white collar jobs or ten percent of its workforce: "Ford is cutting 7,000 white-collar jobs, or about 10% of its salaried staff worldwide, as part of a cost-cutting effort it says will save the company about $600 million a year." There have been other cuts since then including 450 workers in the Oakville Canada assembly plant as sales for the Flex model slump.
A recent late October article on Ford stock provides four difficulties Ford faces and concludes: "Ford (NYSE:F) faces too many challenges to be a buy right now. The carmaker reported third-quarter results this week, including earnings declines, lowered guidance, and less-than-promising sales trends overseas. Most of the turmoil seems to revolve around the company's attempt to restructure and move away from stagnant sedans. Nonetheless, it isn't doing much that will create a bull case for its stock. Here are the four key headwinds holding things back."
Previously published in the Digital Journal
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