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Get Shocked Comparing the Mach-E and Model Y Battery Pack Cooling Systems

Some say that Sandy Munro protects Tesla after almost being sued by the company for revealing all that was wrong with the Model 3 in its first teardown. After the engineer confessed he sold Tesla stock for a profit, some disputed how neutral he was when talking about the brand. This video may show why Munro is so positive about Tesla when it comes to engineering: the differences between the battery pack cooling systems of the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Tesla Model Y are shocking.
Ford Mustang Mach-E's Thermal System Is Compared to Tesla Model Y's 6 photos
Photo: Munro Live
Tesla Super ManifoldTesla Octovalve and Super ManifoldFord Mustang Mach-E Battery PackFord Mustang Mach-E Battery Pack Cooling SystemFord Mustang Mach-E Battery Pack Cooling System
If you remember, Munro was already flabbergasted by the Mach-E thermal system in a previous video, but this one shows why in details. Cory Steuben – Munro & Associates president – and Ben Lindamood start the presentation after being introduced to the viewers by Munro with the entire Model Y cooling system hanging from a crane. That makes it easier for Steuber to spin it and show all components to the camera.

Lindamood’s role is to present the equivalent parts on the Mach-E. He just throws a box of hoses and connectors on a big bench to show how many more of them Ford needed. That’s when he picks up the R1234 gas compressor, the bracket where it is mounted, a noise-isolating diaper that goes around it, and the refrigerant lines. While Tesla’s are all placed in a straight line, really close to each other, Ford had to bend its lines in various ways.

When the presentation shows the Octovalve and the Super Manifold, things get even worse for Ford. Everything comes in double for the Mach-E: instead of a single valve and two pumps, Ford’s electric crossover has two valves and four pumps. That’s what the car needs to give enough pressure for the coolant inside the much longer lines – 18.42 meters against 6.35 m in the Model Y – that the Mach-E needs.

As a wise man once said, all parts you can avoid are components that won’t fail. Ford’s solution for the Mach-E can work, but it is heavier, costlier, and less elegant than that Tesla found to cool its battery packs. Even the elegance has a financial impact: the more work people have to put all that together, the more expensive the car gets.

Munro and his two executives also calculated how much weight Ford could have saved just with the coolant inside those hoses: 13.2 kilograms (22.4 kg against 9.2 kg). Tesla uses 10 parts for the coolant lines while Ford uses 35. That’s quite a difference.

What is more shocking about all this is that the Mach-E is the second-best EV Munro & Associates have ever torn down – the Model Y being the winner. Even being such a brilliant vehicle, the Mach-E still lags a lot behind Tesla in fundamental things such as the cooling system. It made them wonder how long will it take for Ford and other legacy carmakers to get rid of the decision process that puts them at such a disadvantage compared to what Tesla has done so far.

Hopefully, Ford and everybody else will be able to see how far behind they are and change what has to be modified to achieve lighter, cheaper, and more elegant solutions to face Tesla and all other EV startups that do not carry the weight of old habits and customs. Some of them are useful, such as extensive testing and fierce quality control. Some may only drag traditional companies down.

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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
Gustavo Henrique Ruffo profile photo

Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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