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We don’t know how many hand-raisers there are for the 2021 Mustang Mach-E, Ford’s new electric SUV, or how many have placed a $500 sediment. Ford won’t tell us.
We do know there were about 9,000 interested would-be customers on November 18, the nighttime it shaped its world debut at a high-energy event at the Jet Center in Hawthorne, California. For the event, Ford brought in the Detroit Youth Choir that placed second on America’s Got Talent. Likewise on hand: performer Idris Elba. His father worked at the Ford Dagenham assembly plant in the U.K. for most of his life and Elba ran at the flower for two years. The Mach-E will start arriving in late 2020, and Ford will only induce 50,000 divisions globally in the first modeling year.
Contrast that with Tesla, which, two days later in a neighboring building in Hawthorne, had the world premiere of the Cybertruck, an electric pickup that is otherworldly in layout. Tesla immediately started accepting orderings with $100 deposits. Three weeks later, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was tweeting that he had 200,000 orders for the Cybertruck. The truck is still a minimum of 2-3 years out, depending on the model, and Musk’s timelines are notoriously inaccurate. The $100 deposit is fully refundable, and website glitches been instrumental in people accidentally ordering a whole fleet of trucks.
Even if the figures are off, and the truck never constructs it to production, the buzz around the Tesla Cybertruck was louder by many multiples of decibels.
The contrast is fun, and Tesla and Ford have amplified their differences in a Twitter dual arising as a result of a Tesla video of the Cybertruck pulling a Ford F-1 50 pickup in a tug of war.
All of this is a long preamble to some aspects of the Mustang Mach-E–which is a real vehicle and will go into production next year as promised–that you might have missed in last week’s mayhem.
The rear-drive Mach-E has a large motor between the rear axles. Adding a small motor to the front renders it all-wheel-drive capability, and the badging becomes Mach-E 4. Ford claims the base Mach-E with AWD will be faster from 0-60 mph than a Porsche Macan base simulate. Replacing the small motor up front with one as big as the one in the back generates the performance Mach-E GT. “I’ve driven it. It’s like a rocket ship, ” said Executive Chairman Bill Ford, from a building across from Musk’s SpaceX.
There are two battery tiers. The flat battery pack of the mid-range will get close to 230 miles of scope. Adding a second tier of batteries to the back of the battalion( under the rear benches) for the extended assortment increases that to about 300 miles of scope, and the badging adds an “x .” The figures are calculates; the vehicle has not yet received its EPA certification.
Balance
All versions of the Mach-E are well-balanced. Some are dead on with a 50 -5 0 weight distribution. Depending on if there is a second motor up front, and which sizing that is, some simulates are 48 -5 2 or 49 -5 1. Dave Pericak, who left Ford Performance to work on the Mach-E, said today took a great deal of work, but their manage satisfies the bar and they deserve to be called Mustangs. Ron Heiser, bos program engineer, said the weight distribution attains the crossover neatly planted, and it is the best handling utility vehicle in the Ford showroom. “No doubt about it.”
Hands-free roadway driving
The hardware is in place for hands-free highway driving in mapped fields, similar to GM’s SuperCruise system that takes over the steering wheel and pedals on the highway, as long as the car can verify that the driver is still paying attention. Ford is still validating its system which will allows hands-free driving as long as the eye-monitoring system verifies that the driver is paying attention and can take over if needed to ensure safety. The structure will be allowed to shaping lane modifications, as well. The aspect won’t be available at launch but will be offered in the first example year.
Material selections
Bill Ford is eco-conscious and a known greenie which is continuing loves concert. So it is no surprise that the Mach-E has standard animal-free upholstery. It feels like leather, but it is not. There are no cloth benches either. But the stereo’s sound bar and speakers are covered in a unique automotive tier cloth instead of the usual selects of plastic or metal.
Phone as key
Ford is not the first to use the phone as a key but it is going further than most to wean motorists off of their key fobs. Yes, there is a backup key fob but it has limited functionality to discourage its use and prompt owners to rely on their smartphone to unlock, warm, and start the car. Don’t worry if your telephone dies. Heiser points to the keypad on the side of the car–Ford has offered keypads for years but few people actually use it. But on the Mach-E, the keypad is a backup to get in, by participate a code, if a phone can’t be used. A second, longer code must be entered once inside to substantiate identity and start the car. There is a valet mode as well, where the valet gets a temporary code.
Over-the-air updates
After launch, the team will continue to work on the ability to provide over-the-air updates to keep systems current. It won’t go as far as Tesla where you can wake up to software updates and get a sense you have a whole new car. But your phone could be programmed so that as you approach the car, it is not simply lights up and illuminates a Mustang welcome mat on the field, but is set to physically open the door so you don’t even need to touch the treat. Ford is also working to be able to boost scope over the breath in the future as it continues to work to improve efficiency and concert, and tinkers with the calibration of acceleration versus range.
Handbag owner
The layout of the console was driven by research in Dearborn, U.K ., Germany, and China. One idea was to only have a low-pitched, open bin. “We thought we’d reached the holy grail for purse storage, ” said Heiser. But most women said they would not set an expensive handbag close to the floor; they would rather only toss it on the passenger seat. So the design idea was dropped. The auto instead has chamber for a handbag or small purse beneath the center armrest.
Roof designing
The design of the roof devotes the vehicle a fastback gaze in order to ensure enough headroom for tall back passengers. Essentially, the design masquerades the true height. Heiser says a lot of body engineering went into the roof system and his 6-foot, 3-inch frame is in line with a fist and a half of unused headroom. His boss, at 6-foot, 7-inches likewise had to fit. “The two of us used to scare the heck out of everybody, ” Heiser said.
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