Photo: Ford
In a story that sort of flew under the radar, Ford arrived at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed with a newly created premium fragrance aimed at EV buyers who still enjoy the “smells” of traditional gasoline-powered cars.
Before you say anything, no, this isn’t an April Fool’s type of story. First of all, it’s not April and second, talking about this fragrance is none other than Jay Ward, Ford’s actual director of Product Communications in Europe.
“Judging by our survey findings, the sensory appeal of petrol cars is still something drivers are reluctant to give up. The Mach Eau fragrance is designed to give them a hint of that fuel-fragrance they still crave. It should linger long enough for the GT’s performance to make any other doubts vaporize too,” said Ward.
It all started with a survey, commissioned by Ford. It seems that one in five drivers feel as though the smell of gasoline is what they’d miss most when swapping to an electric vehicle. Meanwhile, almost 70% went on to claim that they’d miss the smell of gasoline at least to some degree. Gasoline also ranked as a more popular scent than both wine and cheese, close to being on the same level as the smell of new books. Well, color us befuddled.
Dubbed ‘Mach-Eau’, the fragrance, which isn’t available to buy, doesn’t smell exactly like gasoline. Instead, it fuses smoky accords, certain aspects of rubber and a bit of an “animal” element as well. Among the substances being used, we count benzaldehyde (an almond-like scent given off by car interiors), para-cresol (creates the rubbery scent of tires), blue ginger, lavender, geranium and sandalwood.
The previously mentioned animal element is meant to give an impression of horses, so as to underline the heritage of the Mustang brand.
If you ask us, making your battery-electric car smell like a gasoline-powered one is a bit like adding fake physical buttons to your phone’s touchscreen display. Then again, hardcore petrolheads might feel differently about that.
“Judging by our survey findings, the sensory appeal of petrol cars is still something drivers are reluctant to give up. The Mach Eau fragrance is designed to give them a hint of that fuel-fragrance they still crave. It should linger long enough for the GT’s performance to make any other doubts vaporize too,” said Ward.
It all started with a survey, commissioned by Ford. It seems that one in five drivers feel as though the smell of gasoline is what they’d miss most when swapping to an electric vehicle. Meanwhile, almost 70% went on to claim that they’d miss the smell of gasoline at least to some degree. Gasoline also ranked as a more popular scent than both wine and cheese, close to being on the same level as the smell of new books. Well, color us befuddled.
Dubbed ‘Mach-Eau’, the fragrance, which isn’t available to buy, doesn’t smell exactly like gasoline. Instead, it fuses smoky accords, certain aspects of rubber and a bit of an “animal” element as well. Among the substances being used, we count benzaldehyde (an almond-like scent given off by car interiors), para-cresol (creates the rubbery scent of tires), blue ginger, lavender, geranium and sandalwood.
The previously mentioned animal element is meant to give an impression of horses, so as to underline the heritage of the Mustang brand.
If you ask us, making your battery-electric car smell like a gasoline-powered one is a bit like adding fake physical buttons to your phone’s touchscreen display. Then again, hardcore petrolheads might feel differently about that.
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