The automotive industry is changing, with a spirit of innovation, thus competition within the companies to come up with something out of the box is increasing following which Ford has a bold strategy that includes going “all-in” on electrified vehicles.
Earlier this year, the company announced a US$11 billion investment in electrification, with plans to put 40 new electrified vehicles on the road by 2022, bringing more capability, performance and efficiency to nameplates that people have loved and which have ruled automobile market for a long time.
When it comes to sports cars, Mustang has been favourite since 1985, delivering the looks, options and performance customers love.
Now Ford is transforming Mustang into the future hybrid-electric Mustang that will add to the iconic pony car’s legacy by delivering V8-like performance with more low-end torque.
Ford is coming up with Mustang Mach E SUV which is a reference to the high-performance ‘Mach 1’ versions of the Mustang sports car that Ford has offered at various times.
Ford is aiming for 230 miles (370 km) of driving range per charge for standard models, and 300 miles for ‘extended range’ models which gives a tough competition to rival Tesla Model Y sport-utility.
Mustang Mach-E will have semi-autonomous driver-assistance that can control steering, braking, and acceleration in some circumstances but you cannot be fully dependent on it as it requires driver assistance all time.
When it comes to performance Ford has different standards, and Mach E needed to meet the Mustang standard. The Mach-E offers 459 horsepower (342 kilowatts) and 612 pound-feet (830 Newton-meters) of torque.
The range is 250 miles with a sprint to 60 miles per hour (96 kilometres per hour) happening in the mid-3-second range.
Many of the Mach-E’s tech features appears to be inspired by Tesla. Many settings on the Mustang Mach-E will be controlled through a 15.5-inch touch screen, the vehicle will have a special feature that it can receive over-the-air software updates, and the owner will be able to open the vehicle with their phones, all these features were previously available in Tesla Model Y.
Ford says the Mach E will start at about $43,000 (Rs 30.2 lakh approx). Ford is calling it first four-door fully electric SUV which makes this model more interesting.