Mustang Mach-E, courtesy of Ford
Ford recently released its first electric vehicle (EV), the vaguely Mustang-looking Mustang Mach-E, and it’s already begun taking jabs at Tesla without a zero-emissions car even on the road yet.
In a statement to the press, Ford’s EV head Darren Palmer subtly told the press that Ford wouldn’t have any of the quality control issues Tesla has had, according to Business Insider.
Within the statement, Palmer said, “The doors fit properly, the plastics and other materials color-match, the bumpers don’t fall off, the roof doesn’t come off when you wash it, the door handles don’t get stuck in cold weather.”
The 2021 @Ford Mustang Mach-E is Ford's best EV ever: https://t.co/ybWy9Z5Lm5 pic.twitter.com/k2vGUXcuTI
— Car and Driver (@CARandDRIVER) December 26, 2020
The jab was an allusion to multiple quality control issues Tesla has experienced over the past few years, including a pair of instances where owners of the Model Y watched their roofs fall off.
Still, they’re certainly fighting words from Ford to Tesla, and especially given that Ford is several years behind in the EV market. While the company believes it can bridge the gap between EVs and the average consumer, nudging the world towards EV adoption, it currently only has the Mustang Mach-E, with no plans to release other EVs until 2022.
The EV market is currently being completely dominated by Tesla, which has four models of EVs currently available, with more on the way. Ford may well be able to use both its expert skills in manufacturing and supply chain goods as points of advantage, but the traditional gas carmaker still has a lot of barriers to overcome if it is to compete successfully with Tesla.
