WHEN I LEARNED that Ford was calling his all-electric crossover Mustang Mach-E, I rolled my eyes and made the emoji face skeptical. Ladies and gentlemen of Dearborn, please. Can’t we go back down the foggy path of nostalgia for pony cars? Should we give credibility to this strange non sequitur? For 56 years, the nameplate has denoted two-door coupes and convertibles; now, for no particular good reason, I can say that it also denotes a medium-sized four-door electric hatchback — oh, I’m sorry, fastback. They could also have called it Cobra, or Crown Victoria, or the Barney Oldfield 999 Special.
Ford’s engineering executives have been on press conference calls this fall to support the company’s first mass-selling vehicle, which will be built in Mexico, with global sales expected to hover around 50,000 on the first year. They have explained how, at the end of the design phase, Vice President Jim Farley (now CEO) sent the team back to the boards with orders to make the unnamed project more Mustang-ish: a more striped windshield , a faster hatch, black C-pillar, until finally someone suggested I just call it a Mustang.
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Really? That four-door hatchback with the bod father called Mustang in the direction? This is … amazing.
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Really? That four-door hatchback with the bod father called Mustang in the direction? This is … amazing. Ford executives repeat this story as if it were not a parable of creative laziness.
Not to be a killjoy. Some of the Mustang-themed features are charming: the three-bar taillights; the galloping mustang logo illuminated on the nose (GT and higher finish). The three driving modes are “Whisper”, “Engage” and “Unbridled”. Oh, love! The latter mode corresponds to a typical sport mode, giving a clearer advantage to the throttle response and adding strength to the steering feel. The unbridled mode also allows a certain value of wheel rotation, both on the front and rear axles, so you can drive around a bit … sorry.
Language note: In British market vehicles the sport mode is called Untamed. Grrr. There is no word on the upholstery of ripped bodices.
Beneath the floorboards are bag-type lithium-ion battery packs, arranged in 68- or 88-kWh packages (standard and extended range), for which LG Chem has to charge a penny. The base MSRP reaches $ 42,895 (RWD, 230 miles) before any federal, state, or local incentive. Our two-wheel drive, four-wheel drive version with the largest battery (270 miles range) had a total price of $ 56,200. That’s $ 6,300 more than the long-range AW model.
Talk about nostalgia. The high price of the Mach-E reflects Ford’s often repeated insistence that, among its other miracles, the program should generate profits out the door. Because? It took years of investment and rivers of red ink before Tesla turned the corner of profitability.
Ford’s first-year effort, while worthy in many ways, fails to reach the Tesla’s reach, fast-charging support, sophistication, brand value, and driver assistance. So where does Ford come from to charge more? This thing needs a $ 10,000 haircut.
Despite the monthly payments, the Mach-E feels great. The cabin is bright and spacious (thanks to a full panoramic roof), buttoned and elegantly equipped. The centerpiece of the interior, the 15.5-inch vertical touch screen, is something to behold, like a large font edition of infotainment. It’s loaded with the latest version of Ford’s SYNC 4A interface, which works pretty well. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless charging … you know the drill.
The EV mechanism is serene and refined, slow or fast. However, in the acoustic context of a missing engine and drive train, the remaining sources of cabin noise (tire howls, wind around the exterior mirrors) can make their way through the neat buzz. . If the silence becomes excessive, drivers can activate a synthesized performance sound that is inflated in the cab, going up and down in pitch with the output torque. Some people call me Space Cowboy, yes …
The Mach-E also offers the selectable option of driving with a single pedal, which increases the drag / deceleration of the car’s regenerator on the shore to the point where drivers rarely need to operate the brake pedal. It works great. The only doubt I had with driving was the slight sensitivity of the brake pedal in two pedal mode.
Ford may have reason to exploit the Mustang brand, but it also plays into it by betting that the new car is charismatic enough to change the generational conversation, from track bars and five-speed Tremec to amps and watts.
In this work, the Mach-E has a natural ally: acceleration. With a fun feature from 0 to 60, ranging from 6.1 seconds (extended range, RWD) to 3.5 seconds (GT Performance Edition eAWD), even the slowest Mach-E will burn, sing and splash by a whim or whistle. Our extended-range AWD tester, with front and rear electronic engines totaling 346 hp and 428 lb-ft, could reach 60 mph in less than five seconds. Maybe they would have called him Zephyr.
On the roads, our maroon red tester came out effortlessly to seize the traffic openings, an unrepaired device that took advantage of the gasifiers around us. Delta V advance Mach-E reserves do not begin to run out until about 90 mph.
If the Mach-E really makes converts, if this old school Mustang fan theorist walks around an exhibition hall, he scratches his belly, thinking of Mach-E, eh? What the hell, I’ll make a throw: it’ll be in those first few miles of a driving test, when they experience the fine control torque, the zero-delay accelerator response that makes electric vehicles feel so fast.
For efficiency reasons, gas-powered Mustangs typically go into a state of semi-drowsiness, at high speed, at low revs, with a fully sedated throttle response. But let’s assume that a question of honor suddenly arises and that we need to move forward. From the moment you step on the pedal, it can take hundreds of milliseconds for a gas engine to coil, from the turbos to the output shaft. Meanwhile, a concatenation of clutches, gears, shafts and shafts must be reorganized in a hurry by their electromechanical masters.
By this time, the Mach-E is already putting pairs on the ground. Mustang people may like it.
2021 FORD MUSTANG MACH-E ER EAWD
Photo:
Ford
Base price: $ 49,700 ($ 7,500 tax credit available)
Price, as tested: $ 56,200
Drive train: Alternating current synchronous motors with permanent magnet mounted on the front and rear axle; 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 inches
Limit weight: 4,838 pounds
0-60 mph: 4.8 seconds
DC Quick Charge: Up to 150 kW
EPA Estimated Range: 270 miles
Upload space: 29.7 cu. feet
Write to Dan Neil and [email protected]
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