Photo: Ford
Before I begin my diatribe, I must say that I'm well aware that I going to receive a lot of flak for this, but somebody must say it and I'm taking full responsibility. Keep in mind that it's just an opinion, even though it's somewhat based on facts.
I should probably also start by mentioning that I have almost always had a soft spot for the Blue Oval, especially following the 2008-2010 global financial crisis when Ford was the only one of the Detroit Big Three to survive without the help of government money.
Against this backdrop, Ford has also been a purveyor of performance never before seen in a traditional American carmaker. Sure, Dodge's Hellcat family is mind-bogglingly impressive and Chevrolet's mid-engine Corvette is already a phenomenon for completely changing the Vette timeline, but neither of Ford's direct rivals has developed almost an entire lineup based on performance versions.
From 2015 or so, Ford has been reinventing itself and has all but resurrected the legendary “Total Performance” slogan of the 1960s, which gave birth to some of the coolest American muscle cars and sports cars, not to mention the time when it downright obliterated Ferrari at Le Mans four times in a row.
Developing a flat-plane V8 that can rev through the stratosphere and can only be bought in a handful of models, introducing a new Ford GT that's pretty much a racing car for the road and offering up to 760 horsepower on a road vehicle that is not even the top of the range is the work of a Renaissance car company.
At least this is what Ford led me to believe until it decided to forever tarnish the Mustang name by giving it to an electric crossover.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E has fewer things in common with a Mustang then it has with an Escape, so why is Ford forcing us to call it something that it clearly isn't? Apart from the headlights, taillights and the running horse badge, there is simply nothing that's even remotely similar to a Mustang on the upcoming EV crossover, yet the Blue Oval is referring to it as the fifth member of the current Mustang family, “bringing the famous pony into the electric age.”
No, just don't. It's not that I have a tooth against electric cars, I really don't. For example, the 900-horsepower Ford Mustang Lithium, a one-off Mustang EV with a freaking 6-speed manual specially made for the SEMA 2019 is something that I'd proudly call a new Mustang family member in a heartbeat.
The Mustang Mach-E, on the other hand, is like a rolling scream for help. OK, never mind the “Mustang” moniker, but why also bring the infamous “Mach” name into this as well? Does Ford really not care about the Baby Boomers that grew up salivating at an original Mach 1, especially one fitted with the Ram Air Cobra Jet 428?
Does car nomenclature even mean anything anymore in Dearborn? It's not unlike Chevrolet giving the Corvette moniker to a front-wheel-drive subcompact that rivals the Mitsubishi Mirage, or Porsche slapping the “Turbo” name on an electric vehicle. Oh, wait.
Actually, it's not just the name and positioning that irks me about the upcoming Mustang Mach-E, but the technical bits as well. In short, every single detail about the model looks like it was pasted from the Tesla Model Y specifications catalog.
Both the Ford and the Tesla have 5 seats, AWD and RWD versions and an extra luggage compartment, that was to be expected, but the rest? A Tesla Model Y Performance starts at $61,000, offers an EPA-rated 280 miles of range, and hits 60 mph (97 kph) in 3.5 seconds. The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT will apparently undercut the Tesla by $500, offer an EPA-estimated range of 235 miles and will go from 0 to 60 mph in the “mid-3 seconds.” Alongside the previously mentioned details, everything seems to be either a carbon copy, slightly improved aspect or just a tiny bit worse.
To be fair, the Ford does offer a “drainable front luggage compartment” while the Tesla doesn't, even though it's only big enough to store body parts, not entire bodies.
On the other hand, Ford doesn't own a “Supercharger” network and none of its cars have OTA updates or a Level 2/3 autonomous system as advanced as Autopilot. That said, the Mustang Mach-E will definitely steal some sales from the Model Y mainly thanks to the $7,500 federal tax credit, for which Teslas will no longer be entitled to when the Ford goes on sale.
Taking all that into account, wouldn't it have been easier for the car to be called something like the Escape Electric and make it part of the Escape family instead of tarnishing Ford's most prestigious model? It would have made more sense for so many reasons, including the fact that the 2005 Escape Hybrid was a pioneering model in its segment and we're already talking about an SUV, not the inventor of the pony car and Ford's most iconic car name.
Against this backdrop, Ford has also been a purveyor of performance never before seen in a traditional American carmaker. Sure, Dodge's Hellcat family is mind-bogglingly impressive and Chevrolet's mid-engine Corvette is already a phenomenon for completely changing the Vette timeline, but neither of Ford's direct rivals has developed almost an entire lineup based on performance versions.
From 2015 or so, Ford has been reinventing itself and has all but resurrected the legendary “Total Performance” slogan of the 1960s, which gave birth to some of the coolest American muscle cars and sports cars, not to mention the time when it downright obliterated Ferrari at Le Mans four times in a row.
Developing a flat-plane V8 that can rev through the stratosphere and can only be bought in a handful of models, introducing a new Ford GT that's pretty much a racing car for the road and offering up to 760 horsepower on a road vehicle that is not even the top of the range is the work of a Renaissance car company.
At least this is what Ford led me to believe until it decided to forever tarnish the Mustang name by giving it to an electric crossover.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E has fewer things in common with a Mustang then it has with an Escape, so why is Ford forcing us to call it something that it clearly isn't? Apart from the headlights, taillights and the running horse badge, there is simply nothing that's even remotely similar to a Mustang on the upcoming EV crossover, yet the Blue Oval is referring to it as the fifth member of the current Mustang family, “bringing the famous pony into the electric age.”
No, just don't. It's not that I have a tooth against electric cars, I really don't. For example, the 900-horsepower Ford Mustang Lithium, a one-off Mustang EV with a freaking 6-speed manual specially made for the SEMA 2019 is something that I'd proudly call a new Mustang family member in a heartbeat.
The Mustang Mach-E, on the other hand, is like a rolling scream for help. OK, never mind the “Mustang” moniker, but why also bring the infamous “Mach” name into this as well? Does Ford really not care about the Baby Boomers that grew up salivating at an original Mach 1, especially one fitted with the Ram Air Cobra Jet 428?
Does car nomenclature even mean anything anymore in Dearborn? It's not unlike Chevrolet giving the Corvette moniker to a front-wheel-drive subcompact that rivals the Mitsubishi Mirage, or Porsche slapping the “Turbo” name on an electric vehicle. Oh, wait.
Actually, it's not just the name and positioning that irks me about the upcoming Mustang Mach-E, but the technical bits as well. In short, every single detail about the model looks like it was pasted from the Tesla Model Y specifications catalog.
Both the Ford and the Tesla have 5 seats, AWD and RWD versions and an extra luggage compartment, that was to be expected, but the rest? A Tesla Model Y Performance starts at $61,000, offers an EPA-rated 280 miles of range, and hits 60 mph (97 kph) in 3.5 seconds. The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT will apparently undercut the Tesla by $500, offer an EPA-estimated range of 235 miles and will go from 0 to 60 mph in the “mid-3 seconds.” Alongside the previously mentioned details, everything seems to be either a carbon copy, slightly improved aspect or just a tiny bit worse.
To be fair, the Ford does offer a “drainable front luggage compartment” while the Tesla doesn't, even though it's only big enough to store body parts, not entire bodies.
On the other hand, Ford doesn't own a “Supercharger” network and none of its cars have OTA updates or a Level 2/3 autonomous system as advanced as Autopilot. That said, the Mustang Mach-E will definitely steal some sales from the Model Y mainly thanks to the $7,500 federal tax credit, for which Teslas will no longer be entitled to when the Ford goes on sale.
Taking all that into account, wouldn't it have been easier for the car to be called something like the Escape Electric and make it part of the Escape family instead of tarnishing Ford's most prestigious model? It would have made more sense for so many reasons, including the fact that the 2005 Escape Hybrid was a pioneering model in its segment and we're already talking about an SUV, not the inventor of the pony car and Ford's most iconic car name.
Google News