Mustang Mach E is a Gamechanger - My Opinion

[plumazul]

I own both a Tesla Model S and a Ford Focus Electric. We bought them within months of each other in 2017 and they are both great cars. My wife uses the Ford as a daily driver and loves it (doesn't like to drive the S, yet). The Ford has a tiny battery (33.5 kWh) but it gets the job done without drama and (unlike the Leaf) has a very sophisticated battery management system . It's way more efficient than the S, using about 5/8 of the power/mile as the S. The Ford has had 2 breakdowns that required towing. One purely mechanical the other was a failure of the 12v battery(sound familiar to you Tesla owners?) The Model S has been almost flawless (a Ranger came to my house and replaced an outside mirror because it was deploying slow. It never failed just got slow) and has a lot more miles since it's our trip car.

So two points:
Ford knows how to build cars. They also know a LOT about electric drivetrains. We owned several Ford/Merc hybrids since 2006 and they were state of the art and well built. This Mustang E is just the beginning from Ford. But that's a good thing. It's what Elon wanted.
It is amazing that Tesla has caught up to companies who have been building cars for a century in such a short amount of time and they are still learning how to increase margins which will make them competitive with ANYONE in the world.

There's room for a lot more EV manufacturers. The goal is to get the ICE cars off the road. It's going to take a lot more participants to get it done.

 

[MARKM3]

Great post an analysis.

I own both a Tesla Model S and a Ford Focus Electric. We bought them within months of each other in 2017 and they are both great cars. My wife uses the Ford as a daily driver and loves it (doesn't like to drive the S, yet). The Ford has a tiny battery (33.5 kWh) but it gets the job done without drama and (unlike the Leaf) has a very sophisticated battery management system . It's way more efficient than the S, using about 5/8 of the power/mile as the S. The Ford has had 2 breakdowns that required towing. One purely mechanical the other was a failure of the 12v battery(sound familiar to you Tesla owners?) The Model S has been almost flawless (a Ranger came to my house and replaced an outside mirror because it was deploying slow. It never failed just got slow) and has a lot more miles since it's our trip car.

So two points:
Ford knows how to build cars. They also know a LOT about electric drivetrains. We owned several Ford/Merc hybrids since 2006 and they were state of the art and well built. This Mustang E is just the beginning from Ford. But that's a good thing. It's what Elon wanted.
It is amazing that Tesla has caught up to companies who have been building cars for a century in such a short amount of time and they are still learning how to increase margins which will make them competitive with ANYONE in the world.

There's room for a lot more EV manufacturers. The goal is to get the ICE cars off the road. It's going to take a lot more participants to get it done.

 

[Fresnel]

You're posting a little too soon for this post. You should wait until the Mach E comes out and people actually see how good it is. Yes its range looks to be on par. Yes it does have a good interior and exterior design. In my opinion it is going to be Teslas closest competition but it's still too soon for this post since we don't really know.

 

[MARKM3]

You're posting a little too soon for this post. You should wait until the Mach E comes out and people actually see how good it is. Yes its range looks to be on par. Yes it does have a good interior and exterior design. In my opinion it is going to be Teslas closest competition but it's still too soon for this post since we don't really know.

Ford has been building vehicles for over 100 years and by them putting the mustang name on it, they're putting the entire brand on the line! I wouldn't underestimate any of their specs!

 

[Joshan]

You cannot dismiss facts with hyperbole like you keep trying. Its fine if you do not want to agree with him, but to quote him when he is being real and dismiss it with nonsense like "Its named mustang" is disingenuous and rude.

 

[E Dizzle]

The stalls aren't as important as location, similar to the gas station model. The only places that should have more stalls are off interstates. /QUOTE]

I would disagree. I drive by the EA chargers at the Walmart in my town almost daily and there is at least 2 stalls ice'd every time if not more. Having more stalls at each location seems to be pretty important and EA has 4x less stalls than Tesla in North America.

 

[Kilotango74]

Again, the exception to the rule. There are TONS of posts here alone of people that not only didn't have their vehicle delivered to them but the salesperson didn't even have the car ready. Or the car wasn't cleaned upon pickup, or they sat and waited hours to picku up, etc. Again, there are many posts here with "bad Tesla experience".

Of course there are because people rarely use forums to say how happy they are. The majority of people complain and witch.

 

[Nikola3327]

Welcome to 8 pages ago

I freely admit, I did not read the entire 8 (Now 16) pages of this “insightful” thread.

in fact I’m amazed it wasn’t locked 16 pages ago.

 

[brucet999]

I've owned multiple cars from Chevy, Buick, Ford, Dodge, etc... all em had that.

Even my Lexus, the brand JD Power has ranked #1 in quality most years for the last 2-3 decades, had interior trim things the dealer had to fix (my dead pedal snapped a mount 2 weeks into ownership for example.... happened a second time after about 18 months... apparently they had revised the part by then as the third one lasted another 10 years with no issue)

What in the world is a "dead pedal"?

I know what a dead man pedal is, but they only exist on train locomotives as far as I know, certainly not passenger cars.

 

[brucet999]

I don’t have high hopes for the Mustang Mach E. Not because it’s a Ford. But because it’s their first real EV. I sat by the sidelines when Tesla came out with their Roadster...and then their Model S...and then their Model X...and after a full year of production of the Model 3 I jumped in.

Ford is still in the Roadster stage. And look at how well Mercedes, Audi and Jaguar have done so far with their first EV. They are all an absolute mess. Ford will eventually get EVs that people will want to own. But not their first one, and probably not their second one either.

Maybe MX stage, but not Roadster - a body and frame bought from another company with drive train and battery shoe-horned in - nor even MS.

Ford knows how to build car bodies and suspensions, and they can easily reverse-engineer Tesla's skateboard and/or get help from Rivian. They will have to out-source batteries though, and will have great difficulty achieving comparable software competence.

 

[OCR1]

Maybe MX stage, but not Roadster - a body and frame bought from another company with drive train and battery shoe-horned in - nor even MS.

Ford knows how to build car bodies and suspensions, and they can easily reverse-engineer Tesla's skateboard and/or get help from Rivian. They will have to out-source batteries though, and will have great difficulty achieving comparable software competence.

They know nothing about developing software.

 

[Knightshade]

What in the world is a "dead pedal"?

I know what a dead man pedal is, but they only exist on train locomotives as far as I know, certainly not passenger cars.

Nope, they've been commonly used in passenger cars for a long long time.... Even the model 3 had one until a few months ago in fact.

Here's a whole thread about the fact it was recently removed from the Model 3, including pics with and without it

Dead pedal - dead in 2020


Or if you're in a hurry pic of model 3 with and without is attached

WITH on top, without below

 

[MARKM3]

They know nothing about developing software.

And your evidence of that? Have you seen how amazing their new sync system is, take a look:

 

[Runt8]

And your evidence of that? Have you seen how amazing their new sync system is, take a look:

 

[BulldogsRus]

Yeah whoever wrote that don’t know what the hell they are talking about.

...but they did because it was Musk that stated it in their initial terms:
Tesla will finally deliver its "affordable" Model 3... at a terrible cost.

"...What Tesla will do to offset the inevitable demand impact of shuttering its stores is offer customers the ability to return a new Tesla within 7 days or 1,000 miles if they have never test-driven a Tesla before (subject to other terms and conditions). "

Of course there are because people rarely use forums to say how happy they are. The majority of people complain and witch.

You DO realize that Musk himself was forced to address the issues publicly right?
How Musk is Trying to Address Tesla's Service Issues - Market Realist

But sure, use anecdotal evidence ("people only complain on forums") and yet there are TONS of business articles pointing specifically to this, not to mention tons of Youtube videos from either first time buyers or worse, pro-Tesla channels acknowledging the same.

 

[MARKM3]

Yeah, nice video of a product that isn't finished and released yet

 

[Knightshade]

Yeah, nice video of a product that isn't finished and released yet

Yeah it's almost like it's really stupid to use unfinished hardware and pure speculation to draw conclusions about a finished/released product or something...

 

[MARKM3]

Yeah it's almost like it's really stupid to use unfinished hardware and pure speculation to draw conclusions about a finished/released product or something...

Even Tesla has issues, and fixed it by software update. I would give them the benefit of the doubt as well

 

[Runt8]

Even Tesla has issues, and fixed it by software update. I would give them the benefit of the doubt as well

We know how Tesla's UI works, and by and large it's light years ahead of any other manufacturer. When Ford actually releases a product then feel free to come in here and tell us how great it is.

 

[OCR1]

And your evidence of that? Have you seen how amazing their new sync system is, take a look:

There is nothing in that video that change my perspective. Ford is not a software company. The video demonstrates that they see software as a tool for integration of music/phone/climate related features, but that is it.

Tesla vehicles were built from the ground up to be a computer on wheels, with software controlling every aspect of how the car drives. That is why we have seen updates that affect how the car brakes, handles in emergencies, drives using auto pilot, improves its ability to sense rain, and on and on. The entire car is controlled through software, which is constantly improving. It’s a very similar model to the Iphone. While Apple hardware is great, the Iphone would be nothing without a very sophisticated operating system running on it.

I see nothing about the Mustang that makes it look different than a traditional Ford vehicle that runs on a battery. Until they demonstrate otherwise it’s just speculation to think they have the capability to be a software company. The proof is in the actual product, which as of yet still does not exist.

I have far more confidence in a Silicon Valley company learning how to build cars than I do a legacy auto manufacturer learning how to develop complex software. I’ll still place my bets on Tesla for the future, and not Ford. Apparently the stock market would agree.