How do you stoke both controversy and excitement among auto enthusiasts at the same time? If you're Ford Motor Company, you launch your first all-electric SUV with an iconic CAR nameplate.
The Mustang Mach-E, slated for car lots in late 2020 as a 2021 model, did just that when it was released to the public last month. To put that venerable, nay, iconic, nameplate on an SUV of any kind of new vehicle (other than a traditional sedan) was going to be controversial. And it was. Internet reception was at times brutal, and scathing.
A small sample from ONE ad Ford ran on Twitter:
"I’ve owned 2 mustangs, you can call this a mustang, but it’s not."
"This ain't a damn Mustang, Ford."
"What’s next, a Mustang truck? Or scooter?"
"I'm holding out for your Mustang minivan."
"@Ford hit me up for the $500 to reserve one of these, if the following conditions are met:
1. Remove all ‘Mustang’ from the name of this vehicle 2. Remove all pony’s from the vehicle. 3. Never refer to this as a ‘mustang’ again. Never."
"Mustang or Rav4? That thing is hideous."
And, damning with faint praise...
"It has the possibility of being a great vehicle but I agree should not have been called a Mustang."
Of course, the SUV-ing of the Mustang is par for the course for American automakers, who have all but declared a jihad on sedans with their traditional hood-and-trunk designs, which they've deemed "unsellable" to the American auto buyer. Tho, the American auto buyer apparently can't get enough of sedans produced by KIA, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Volvo, Volkswagen, Mazda, Mercedes, Audi, and others. Maybe they haven't got the memo.
In the Mach-E, which is advertised as going 300 miles on a charge and cost between $45,000 and $60,500, the hood, like a 1963 VW Beetle, houses trunk space, due to the electric motor not needing an up-front location, and its air-cooling capabilities. This leads to the somewhat odd-looking grille, which isn't a grille at all, but a flat space, at the front end.
The white colored Mach-Es will show more prominently the "fang" feature on this part of the car, a cut-out that adds at least some character to an otherwise blank space. That space on the darker (dark blue, dark silver, black offerings) looks like what a kid forgot to punch out of a plastic car model. To be fair, this mimics front ends on various Tesla models, which also look like they don't know what to do with that space. The space does include a Mustang "leaping pony," and the front end has headlamps that resemble the Mustang car's.
The rear features a by-the-numbers Mustang-like look, with three, evenly spaced lights and another leaping pony. The side view resembles the Jaguar I-Pace electric car and the weirdly named non-electric E-Pace. From the side, the rear also has a quick-drop-off featured on the Tesla X SUV. And one could also be forgiven for squinting and seeing the Ford Edge in the side view, and possibly also in the rear. The side also features the "almond shape" rear window design featured in DOZENS of bland SUVs on the market. Is there a Federal regulation that requires this?
Which is all to say: this design rips off a lot of other SUVs, and lacks originality.
The company will offer a variety of identical-looking versions of the Mach-E, including a "Select" at nearly $44,000, at "Premium" nearing $51k, a "California Route 1" at nearly $52k, at "First Edition" at $59,900 and for just a bit more, $60,500, a top-of-the-line "GT" model. It's unclear what features will be offered to warrant such a premium, and how these near-identical cars will justify the cost differential.
But some of these terms (Premium, Select) have appeared on Ford Tauruses in the past, and usually amount to hipper rims, leather interiors, or more powerful engines. With a base electric range already advertised (the aforementioned 300 miles) it's hard to see how the more expensive versions will justify the higher cost.
(Photos: Ford Mustang Mach-E website)
