There are few vehicles more iconic than the Ford Mustang, defined by its engine’s throaty sound and how the muscle of its engine matches its body style.
Can that be replicated in an electric vehicle? Ford is giving it a shot with its all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E crossover, its first electric-vehicle launch in the $11 billion e-car plan through 2022. It’s Ford’s first merger of sporty and techie, as Tesla already has achieved.
“This was intended to be a tech-forward car,” Ford Global Director of Battery Electric Vehicles Darren Palmer told CNBC. “It’s nothing like anything we’ve ever had before.”
More electric vehicles will come from Ford, but nothing that makes a statement like the electric buzz of a Mustang. This Mach-E is arriving in dealer showrooms with a price range of $47,000 to $60,500 (base models) and an interior that resembles a Tesla Model Y. Features include a 300-mile driving range, digital driver profiles, scheduling cabin temperatures and a more familiar instrument display than Tesla.
“The typical buyer is the 99% of people who don’t buy EVs today,” Palmer told CNBC, saying that 65% of preorders are new to Ford.
But can it get up and go like a typical Mustang? The Mach-E claims to reach 60 mph in about 3.8 seconds, making it comparable to the Mustang Shelby GT500.
The look resembles some of the classic pony car with a faux grille and emblem, a long hood and trademark tri-bar tail lamps.
“Our idea was we didn’t want to create a commodity product. We wanted to put emotion into electric vehicles,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said on CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage.” “That’s why we started with a Mustang.”
This may be the answer for suburban dads who are embarrassed by the grumbles and belches of the classic Mustangs and want to roll to work or a date in a smooth, unique ride that can haul the kids in car seats too. But still be cool, of course.
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