Mustang Mach-E, courtesy of Ford
The Mustang Mach-E, legacy automaker Ford’s first attempt at an electric vehicle (EV), is preparing to arrive at showrooms across North America Tuesday, and is hoping to make a real dent against Tesla and its Model Y, according to CNBC.
In fact, Ford elected to unveil the Mustang Mach-E right next to Tesla’s design center near Los Angeles, California.
I've spent the afternoon researching the practicality of the new Mach-E and have ended up feeling very, very hungry. pic.twitter.com/x7A9t1viRO
— Neil Winn (@NeilBWinn) December 14, 2020
While the move is a bold one, it’s exactly the kind of statement Ford is looking to make about its entry into the EV market.
Darren Palmer, Ford’s global director of battery EVs said, “This was intended to be a tech-forward car. It’s nothing like anything we’ve ever had before.” He continued, “The typical buyer is the 99% of people who don’t buy EVs today. Our job at Ford, what we do, is bring cars to the majority. And so this one is to bring people into electric cars and show them what they can do.”
Along with trying to lure in mainstream buyers, Ford also needs to convince Wall Street investors that its plans for the future of EVs aren’t misguided. The Mach-E’s EPA estimates were recently released, and they seemed to bode well for the car’s potential appeal to the public.
Roughly 65% of Mach-E preorders are new to buying a Ford, according to Palmer, meaning that the strategy must be working, at least to some extent.
Now let’s see if Ford’s Mach-E can compete with Tesla’s over-the-air software updates and Autopilot Full Self-Driving technology.
Whether Ford can manage to compete with Tesla or not, only time will tell, but one thing is certain – the company is about a decade late to the EV game with only a single zero-emissions car released, and there’s no making up that lost time in the world’s transition to sustainable transportation.
