All of the car manufactures have bought in to the idea that the future of personal transportation is electric and consequently have invested much to get their version of electric cars out and in the market. Ford is certainly part of that and has already marketed and sold the Mustang Mach-E. It is not a surprise that Ford Mustang fans have not been enamored with the offering and some even have felt betrayed by Ford’s using the Mustang nameplate much as they did for the Mustang-II The Mustang almost no-one wants to talk about.
From a performance standpoint it is not that bad since it’s 0-60 time is 3.8 seconds. Not bad for a car that can weigh up to 4,890 pounds. Part of that performance is one of EV motors endearing qualities of producing instant maximum torque. The looks of the Mach-E is typical of this era’s SUV style which has been one of the consequences of the government’s constant demand for vehicles higher safety performance in all kinds of front, side, and rear impacts as well as roll-over. In a way, they are building tanks as well as conveyances.
No car is perfection when it hits the dealerships and the Mach-E is part of the pack in that respect. The Mach-E has it share of problems such as broken half-shafts and there is a recall out for problems with overheating battery contactors that cause the vehicle to lose power. Then there has been problems with seatbelts not being fastened properly during manufacturing and failing to restrain occupants in a crash situation. These, and other problems, affect about 50,000 vehicles.
During Ford’s fourth quarter 2022 earnings call CEO Jim Farley revealed that the wiring harness for the Mach-E was 1.6 kilometer (one mile) longer than it needed to be. That made it seventy pounds heavier than it needed to be. Ford also underinvested in breaking technology to save on the battery size.
These kind of problems are not new to car companies nor to Ford over its 100+ year history. Corporations find it easy to forget what made them successful and fall into the trap of managing with an expectation that success will keep going on autopilot.
Big problem with the battery, vote for Ford.