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<\/a><\/p>\nNew Configuration<\/strong><\/p>\n For more than half a century, the Mustang has embodied high-octane power and unbridled strength. And Ford will continue to make gasoline-fueled versions of the classic muscle car.<\/p>\n The Mach-E is not only the first electric version of the Mustang, it\u2019s also the first time it has been configured into a sport utility vehicle. T<\/p>\n hat will test the elasticity of a brand built on low-slung speedsters.<\/p>\n \u201cCalling this a true sports car would be stretching it,\u201d said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for researcher LMC Automotive.<\/p>\n \u201cThe market obviously has gone in the direction of the SUV body type, that\u2019s what\u2019s selling. But the Mustang is not an SUV. It\u2019s been a sports car.\u201d<\/p>\n Ford, having struggled to sell more mundane electric cars, is embarking on a strategy to electrify its icons, starting with the Mustang and following quickly thereafter with a plug-in version of its top-selling F-150 pickup.<\/p>\n It is part of $11.5 billion the automaker is investing to roll out 40 electric and hybrid vehicles by 2022.<\/p>\n The idea is to show that Ford\u2019s EVs can be fast and tough and are not just \u201ccompliance cars\u201d intended to meet more stringent environmental regulations around the world.<\/p>\n \u201cWe changed our whole strategy two years ago,\u201d Ted Cannis, Ford\u2019s global head of electrification, said at a briefing on the Mach-E at the company\u2019s design studios in Dearborn, Michigan.<\/p>\n \u201cWe said, \u2018Let\u2019s play to our strengths – performance vehicles, pickups, vans, SUVs, the things Ford knows how to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n EV Growth<\/strong><\/p>\n Regulations to curb emissions will drive demand for electric vehicles over the next decade, especially in China, the world\u2019s largest auto market.<\/p>\n In the US, where president Donald Trump has eased fuel economy rules, EV growth will be slower, but still strong.<\/p>\n Sales of battery-powered vehicles will quadruple by 2025 to 809, 537 models, accounting for 4.8% of the US auto market, up from 1.3% now, according to LMC Automotive.<\/p>\n New electric offerings will mushroom to 110 choices in the US by the middle of next decade, from just 19 now, LMC predicts.<\/p>\n Standing out in such a crowded field will be difficult, especially for Ford, which ranked fifth behind Toyota, Tesla, Honda and Nissan among consumers surveyed recently by CarGurus on which brand of electric vehicle they would consider buying.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a key reason Ford decided to affix the Mustang pony to the front of the Mach-E, which originally was conceived in 2017 as merely inspired by the sports car.<\/p>\n But as Ford executives were shown design concepts by the small team working on the project, they kept asking for more Mustang influence. By early last year, the decision was made to call it a Mustang.<\/p>\n Design Pressures<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis had massive implications,\u201d said Jason Castriota, brand director of battery-electric vehicles for Ford. \u201cYou can only imagine the amount of tension and strife this brought through the company.\u201d<\/p>\n That pressure was most acute on the engineers, who had to come up with a way to translate fossil-fuel fury into clean-running power from lithium-ion batteries.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we realized we weren\u2019t really doing a Mustang-inspired thing, we were doing a Mustang, the pressure ratcheted up,\u201d said Ron Heiser, the Mach-E\u2019s chief engineer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of people in this company that are staking their engineering reputations that we\u2019re delivering a Mustang.\u201d<\/p>\n Electric motors have some inherent advantages, such as immediate thrust.<\/p>\n Heiser\u2019s engineers placed them between the wheels fore and aft, which, combined with batteries configured like a skateboard beneath the car, create an even weight distribution. That allows the car to ride low and hug the road like a Mustang.<\/p>\n Heiser says the base all-wheel-drive Mach-E can beat a Porsche Macan SUV from zero to 60 miles per hour, and he claims the 450-horsepower GT version comes \u201cvery, very close\u201d to a Porsche 911 GTS.<\/p>\n For those who miss the roar of a big V8, he says the Mach-E will have tunable technology to create an \u201cauthentic\u201d sound.<\/p>\n \u2018Back in the Game\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The focus on performance should make the Mach-E \u201ca more compelling alternative\u201d to Tesla\u2019s similarly priced Model 3 sedan, Dan Levy, a Credit Suisse analyst, wrote in a 14 November report.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ultimate proof point of its success will be if it can truly take battery electric vehicle share from the Model 3 – far from guaranteed.\u201d<\/p>\n Ford won\u2019t say how many Mach-Es it expects to sell annually, but it will be the only model built at the 4.3 million square foot factory in Cuautitlan, Mexico, that most recently was cranking out more than 100,000 Fiesta subcompacts a year.<\/p>\n LMC Automotive predicts the Mustang Mach-E will top out around 50,000 sales annually by 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first step in getting back in the game for Ford, after being viewed as behind in this space,\u201d Schuster said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to have a solid launch with no quality issues and, from a driving standpoint, it has to live up to the name.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n
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