We all know that most people who purchase an SUV or even a truck never really do anything with it other than drive to and from work and such. Very few SUVs ever see off-road use. Some will take their rides off-road and expect an SUV, which is what the Ford Mustang Mach-E is, to offer SUV capability.
A quick glance at the Ford Mustang Mach-E spec sheet shows that the EV has very little of what most would consider SUV capability. The Mach-E has very little ground clearance. In Mach-E GT guise, it has only 5.3-inches of ground clearance. That is less than a real Mustang GT offers at 5.7-inches. Mach-E GT buyers may find that even the most modestly rutted of dirt roads proves too much for the EV. Other versions of the Mach-E offer a bit more ground clearance at 5.7-inches. Consider that the Ford Edge packs 8-inches of clearance in basic form, and the Mach-E is lacking here.
Cargo capacity behind the rear seat is only 29 cubic feet. Put the rear seats down, and the Mach-E offers 59.6 cubic feet. We look to the Edge again, since its the closest traditional SUV in size to the Mach-E and find that the Edge has much more at 39.2 cubic feet behind the second row of seats and more than 73 cubic feet with the second row folded down.
We talked earlier this week about a video showing Ken Block and four other people in the Mach-E. The first thing we thought when we watched that video was that those three rear-seat passengers are smaller humans, and they are crammed in the back seat tightly. Mach-E owners wanting anything close to comfort for the rear seat occupants will want to keep the ride to two people in the back. Whatever Mach-E buyers plan to do in their EVs, it better not involve many people or much luggage.
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Comments
The back is only really for two adults( three adults in the video is just to show you could have three small adults if you had to)or kid’s.The ground clearance is not going to mater as this is designed not for of roading I am sure people how are going to go off road are going to buy a more suitable vicheal.The amount of laggue space is perfect for what it will be used for.
I have to disagree with a few things you commented on. For one, obviously Ford is going for the na.e association by calling it a Mustang,. Yet if the simply called it the Mach E, it has enough styling queue from the Mustang that, IMHO, they wouldn’t need to use the Pony cars designation. Another is the thought that, if the industry made more EV, they would loose money on service due to fewer parts to repair/replace. All they would do is reduce the number of mechanics and charge more for the services they do provide and require of them! Remember, EV’s are new and if and when they become mainstream, most of the general public do not have a working knowledge like some do today for ICE. So if an automaker says you have to bring you EV back every x number of months, to check the c, y or z, how will the general know if they shooting true or not, with all the electronic systems on EVs? Just because Yesla offers over the updates, doesn’t means others will, especially if this can be another stream of revenue! Believe it or not, since at present there does not seem to be a requirement to replace existing ICE vehicles, aftermarket companies like Autozone may do better once more EV’s do hit the road. Like you said prices of EV’s are high and may rise, since their price point has not stopped people from buying them now! So person who can’t afford them, will hold on to their ICE vehicles longer, but since OEM’S are no longer building replacement parts, the Autozones of the world will have a market to cash in on! The bottom line is the consumer will have great choices, be it EVs or ICEs, which is never a bad thing. How things eventually shake out is antibodies guess. Manufacturers are in it to make money and trust me, Ford had a plan in place to do just that. Whether one likes the name or not, this controversy only has their vehicle on more people’s minds. Some may give it/them a chance and might be pleasantly surprised by what they find.
This is just another half assed lazy idea from the Ford camp. Honestly, I’m so tired of Ford at this point and all of the dumb stuff that they do it’s pathetic. “Let’s get rid of all of our cars and move to SUVs!” “Let’s make an electric mustang SUV!” “Let’s go compete with an electric car company!” FOOLS!!!!!! The reason that your car sales sucked is because ALL OF YOUR CARS SUCK! The Mustang, SUCKS, just not as bad as the rest of the cars Ford makes, Your SUVS SUCK! ALL OF LINCOLN SUCKS! Your trucks are barely just okay. It’s the same thing with GM only GM SUCKS WORSE THAN FORD! Although Dodge is owned by Fiat, it’s the only one of the three brands to do anything smart. Get rid of all of the crap cars and focus on the ones that sell. The Challenger, the Charger and the Durango and then have your trucks and one or two staple luxury type cars. Granted Dodge reliability isn’t that great but their thought process works. You don’t see Dodge going ballistic with all this new crap and electric crap and doing tug of war matches with Tesla, I’m sure they’re going to have something in the near future (probably under the jeep brand) but honestly they kept it basic and they’re doing what “works”
Here’s the thing, Ford needs to have five branches under it’s umbrella, Ford, Ford Trucks, Ford Electric , Ford Vignale and Ford Performance. Technically Ford Performance would fall under both the Ford and Ford Trucks lineup as it would be the performance variants of those vehicles just like Vignale would fall under Ford, Ford Trucks and Ford Electric because it would be the luxury variants of those vehicles. At this point, Ford could let go of the Mustang and bring back the Falcon (I’ll explain why in a minute) the Thunderbird sports car (2dr only) and the Explorer and have all of them on the CD6 platform. The Ford Puma, the Ford Escape, the Ford Mondeo (lifted fusion wagon thing) and the Ford Edge would all go on a modular FWD based chassis, The Ranger/Bronco would go on a body on frame Chassis and the F150/Expedition would have its chassis as would the Ford Super Duty pickups.
The reason I said about the Falcon replacing the mustang is quite simple. The Mustang has run its course and its time to put the horse out to pasture, however that doesn’t mean the Ford should jump out of the Muscle car game nor does it mean that Ford shouldn’t have a 2+2 coupe. The Falcon was actually where the Mustang came from (getting some cues from the Thunderbird as well). The Ford Falcon (or Fairmont) is also Ford more global performance car being sold in both Africa and Australia since the 60’s. Although it was slightly different over there, the Falcon’s performance is well known, most of the time, being powered by a version of Ford’s 351 Cleveland engine, an engine touted for having big block performance in a small block package. The Falcon also came in a variety of body types, coupe, sedan and even a small pickup truck, or UTE if your from the great land down under. Fast forward to today’s market, a CD6 chassis Falcon family of vehicles would go over much better than a CD6 Mustang family of vehicles and would allow for much more versatility. The idea of an agile, fastback “Challenger sized” falcon sedan would go over much better than saying a “Challenger sized” Mustang. Not to mention having a Falcon sedan isn’t a bad idea as Australia has been doing it for years and the Aussie Falcon is a true Force of Nature! Now as all of us know, the days of the V8 performance muscle car are truly numbered but it doesn’t mean the end of performance, it’s the beginning of different one. Ford has done surprisingly well with the Ecoboost platform, especially in the 3L size range. Ford’s 3.0L Ecoboost puts out around 400hp and 415lb-ft of torque, that pretty much beats every stock horsepower number of every non-supercharged Mustang older than 2011 as far as horsepower and out torques any stock rated non-supercharged mustang older than 2015. In Raptor trim, the 3.5L Ecoboost puts out 450hp and 510lb-ft of torque, again beating out every single non supercharged V8 Mustang older than 2018 in horsepower and being matched in torque only by the 2010-2012 GT500, pretty stout numbers if I do say so myself. In GT Supercar form, the 3.5L puts out a whopping 647hp and 550tq, being out powered only by the GT500 in stock form. If we go to a slightly smaller class of engines, Ford’s 2.3L Ecoboost puts out 350hp/350tq, which beats out any GT Mustang older than 2011. I say all of this to say Most people probably wouldn’t bat an eye if Ford dropped any of these engines in a global Ford Falcon family of vehicles that were rear wheel drive based with a 10-speed automatic (optional 7-speed DCT or 6-speed manual for those who still know how to drive one and still desire a stick shift because those people are still out there too) give it a performance AWD setup, Brembo brakes, good looks, quality interiors and exteriors with optional Recaro seats, alcantara steering wheels, digital instrument clusters, large face infotainment screens, B&O stereos, active exhaust systems (please make them sound good) and stuff like that. People would actually be happy with stuff like that. Same thing with the Explorer. Change that dopey looking front end, give it better options and a Vignale trim package and the Explorer would be great. Change the Mustang Mach X name to EVOS and people would be happy. Properly bring out a 3.5L Ford Thunderbird to compete with the Corvette and people would be happy. It’s not even like it’s that hard to do. You already have the Ford GT, bring some of the technology over to the CD6 Chassis with the super car variant of the 3.5L , Make it a sporty 2-seater car, big round taillamps, pointy and aerodynamic (think 1963 styling but 1956 sizing and make it modern) As far as the Ranger/Bronco goes, up the power of the 2.3L to 350 with 350 torque and offer the 400hp/415tq 3.0L V6 as well as a 3.0 Diesel. Give the Ranger more of the Bronco’s retro front end and a better interior on par with the F150 and call it a day. As far as the F150 is concerned. Give it a base 3.0L 400hp with 425lb-ft of torque, and a 3.5L w/ 450hp and 510tq and then give the Raptor (and a new lighting a higher output variant of the 3.5L pushing out 550hp/550tq and go from there. Give the Expedition the 450hp/510tq 3.5L, add a Vignale package to it and go from there. As far as electric goes, you would already have the EVOS (which in all honesty is way better than the MAch-E) Just bring out the Atlas as an All-Electric F150 based pickup truck and then if you feel like it, go walk all over Tesla with that! Add Vignale trims to the Edge, the Explorer, the Expedition and the Mondeo (Lifted fusion thing) and kick Lincoln to the curb. All of that combined would give Ford a much better lineup. GM needs to do something similar to this as well because they are failing hard. Honestly, Get rid of GMC, move all electrification to Buick, keep reinventing Cadillac and GM might be okay. Like the Mustang, the Camaro has run it’s course and should also be moved to that great drag strip in the sky. Doesn’t mean kill the performance lineup. Chevy could easily bring back the Nova to replace the Camaro seeing that just like the Mustang Came from the Falcon, the Camaro came from the Nova and the Nova offered several body types including a coupe, sedan and even a wagon (shooting brake). GM also has two hot twin turbo V6 engines being a 400hp 3.0 and a 465hp 3.6L twin turbo. Granted the GM 3.6L twin turbo doesn’t make the same torque as the 450hp/510 3.5L Ecoboost, but I’m sure GM would do something to change the torque to something closer to the acceptable 500lb-ft range if given reason to. GM even has a new 2.7L turbo-4 making 310hp/348lb-ft of torque which is roughly the same as the current mustang ecoboost engine, which can easily be bumped to 350hp/350tq. Having a Nova family of vehicles with those engines along with an Alpha-II (or VSS-R platform) along with a redone Chevy Nomad SUV (current blazer) on the VSS-R Alpha-II platform and those engines would work out well. Next thing would be to have a proper Chevy Colorado/Blazer on the same Chassis to combat the Ranger/Bronco. Giving those vehicles a base 2.7L turbo-4 and a 410hp 3.0L Twin Turbo V6 and a 3.0L Diesel engine would be the way to go for these trucks. As far as the Silverado/Tahoe/Suburban goes, I’m sure we’ll see a revision in engines soon as the V8 engines disappear. Perhaps a new lineup of Inline-6 twin turbo gas engines and inline-6 diesel engines like what Ram puts in their HD trucks. As far as electric goes, bring out electrification under the Buick lineup and bring out a Hummer like of Electric SUVs and pickup trucks. If ford and GM are to survive, this would be the optimal way to do it.
@Vmbondjr
I could have not said this any better myself, this whole craze of pushing electric vehicles is honestly unrealistic at this time. Then again we have people in gov’t that are “so scared” that our planet is gonna get destroyed by pollution, in which I understand somewhat, but you cant force people what they need over what they want personally. The only thing I personally disagree with is getting rid of the performance V8’s, like you cannot Replace an overpowered balls-to-the-wall Hemi or a Coyote, sh*t even an LT4 if GM actually built it like it used to be back in the ’70s. Even though this is mostly my personal opinion, but no matter how you look at it, even IF a Mustang, Camaro, or a Challenger will go off the line faster with an electric motor, you simply cannot replace an Iconic V8 monster.
@Tyler
trust and believe I am a huge fan of the V8 engine, however I know that with the way things are going. It’s only a matter of time before they’re gone. Trust me no engine will ever be as wonderful as a V8 even if the other engines have more power, they don’t have the same character. I have been in love with them ever since I’ve first heard them and experienced them, but I know that these days are soon going to be a memory. My thought process was in order to continue offering exciting performance vehicles, this would be the way to do it. This way there would be a balance
@Vbondjr
I know that one day all of our engines will be replaced by electric motors, but you have to also realize, it all isn’t gonna happen overnight. As with everything new with technology, it has to go through a lot of trials and errors. For instance, an electric motor’s only way of retaining a charge is by braking versus with an engine an alternator is used to recharge the battery at idle or accelerated to at least keep it at a decent charge. Electric cars today dont have that, but somewhere in the future (Lets say 10-20 years from now) an electric motor could have its version of an alternator. Plus another thing too is consistant distance to discharged, yes even tho some top end electric vehicles have a 400-500 mile range, overtime the batteries can weaken and not keep the same charge and will end up needing to be replaced every 3-4 years, thats like putting a brand new engine in a vehicle after a Cylinder takes a crap, it’s not very logical. Theres more I can talk about, but thats just a basic reasoning why I think Electrifying isnt the way to go just yet, and also not a lot of people are on board with it yet, especially people like me who eat sleep and breathe performance V8’s, Muscle and Super cars.
@Tyler
I feel like that moment when Tony Stark and Doctor Banner were standing on the bridge of that flying aircraft carrier in the Avengers. “Finally someone who speaks English.” “Is that what just happened?” Like I said I’m a huge fan of V8 performance. I think there is a ton more ford could, and should do with the Coyote family of V8 engines. I’d much rather Ford make the 480hp 5.0L the Standard powered V8, use a version of the GT350 intake, throttle body, 2018 GT intake manifold, GT500 exhaust manifolds and cat pipes, Bullitt exhaust and a few other things and have a 5.0L V8 that makes over 500hp from the factory along with a supercharged 700hp variant as a factory car and put them in a CD6 chassis falcon family with a coupe, sedan and a Ute and let the world have at it. Same thing with the Explorer. I’d much prefer a beefed up, naturally aspirated cross plane crank 5.2L V8 and a supercharged 5.2L V8 in the F150 for the Raptor and a Lightning and even a Harley Davidson truck. That to me would be awesome. Same thing with Chevy. Offer an LT2 Nova family with a Coupe, a sedan and a Durango/Explorer V8 SUV version Nomad Nova. (If Dodge could offer a Ramcharger, a Nomad Nova isn’t that far fetched) To be honest, I think it’s time GM switched over to smaller DOHC engines anyway and brought back a 5.7L V8 just like Ford did with the 5.0L. Chevy could easily make a 475hp 5.7L DOHC V8 with a 10-speed behind it and it have just as much performance and be right on par with the Ford 5.0L just like it was back in the day and be efficient. At least I think so. Drop a supercharger on it and be right up with the 5.2L Predator V8. Same thing with their trucks. Honestly, this is the future I’d rather see, however i was trying to be realistic and optimistic at the same time with my statement above. Of course, who knows what the future is really going to hold. These are all hopes and speculations. Only time will truly tell whats going to happen.
As much as I love ICE power, our children and grandchildren need to embrace something other than fossil fuel mobiles. Ford’s effort here may not be perfect, but it shows a commitment to move into the future. Even though fomoco is not an electric vehicle company (yet), all car companies have to look at the future. Kudos to Ford for taking a bold step.