Happy Birthday to Sonic - My FIVE Year Review!

[SonicBlue]

Five years ago today, I flew to Denver to pick up Sonic - my Grabber Blue FE - and drive him home to Wichita. 74,500 miles later, here is my five-year review.

I have no regrets. I made the right decision at the time. 2021 was a good entry point in the lifecycle of current battery tech, and X-Plan pricing and federal tax incentives made it a good value. I have saved several thousands of dollars each year in gas. I have already surpassed any breakeven analysis as compared to the closest ICE equivalent (likely a loaded Edge?). I will be keeping this car for at least another three years as my daily driver.

That doesn’t mean I’d still buy a 25 or 26 today. That would be a poor financial decision given the advanced age of the current battery tech and nearly obsolete SYNC software.

Were I in the market now, I would either wait a few more years for the next gen battery/charging tech, or look to buy a used ‘24 still under warranty in the neighborhood of $30,000. As rapidly as these vehicles depreciate it makes zero financial sense to buy a new Mach E with outdated tech at this time.

Pros:

• The exterior styling is gorgeous. Way better than the frumpy androgynous people-mover lump of a Model Y or weird design choices of other comparably-priced offerings. The Grabber Blue is not only the fastest color - it is gorgeous. It pops in the day and practically glows at night. Fit and finish are flawless. FIVE YEARS LATER I think it is still the best looking EV on the road in this price class.
• Mechanically the car is nearly flawless, aside from a couple of issues I'll detail below.
• My 4X has plenty of giddy up. Not quite as quick as a GT or comparable MY, but not a big enough difference to care.
• The interior is very comfortable and refined. Nice little touches like blue contrast stitching and soft touch materials give the cabin a very refined feel. Front and rear passenger space is perfectly adequate and the cabin is quiet - much quieter than the MY. The fake leather has held up quite well aside from a few small cracks on the driver’s seat.
• The infotainment screen gives the car a suitably futuristic air while maintaining most of the comforts of a more traditional vehicle. Unlike the MY, I get a driver instrument cluster. Unlike the MY, I don't have to tap into the menu to activate my wipers or open the freaking glove box. And I get that glorious KNOB that is so easy to use.
• Trunk and frunk capacity are quite good for a car of this size. The floor lays perfectly flat. Don't believe any numbers that suggest the MY has more cargo capacity - the capacity is basically the same and comes down to the specific dimension of your luggage.
• The infotainment screen is generally easy to use and responsive, with only a few negatives below.
• Ford's suite of driver assistance features generally works quite well. Blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alerts, adaptive cruise control, and lane centering all work well. BlueCruise Hands Free with assisted lane change is nice on long highway drives.
• PAAK generally works well as long as you don’t expect fob-level performance.

Cons:

• Public charging remains my biggest complaint. Five years later, the network has definitely improved. But Midwest road trips require math and meteorology and if the charging station doesn't work you're in for a major headache. Supercharger access - thanks @Ford Motor Company for the free adapter - helps a lot. But not having 800v architecture is becoming a more evident deficiency when it comes to charging speed. The range and charging speed of current battery tech are still major obstacles (the other being price) to mass-adoption of EVs.
• OTA updates are basically finished at this point, and @Ford Motor Company has stubbornly refused to implement some easy and common-sense software enhancements requested by hundred of users in the Super Poll. Such as…
• Still no manual battery preconditioning.
• Still no charge speed displayed on IPC during DCFC.
• I still have to tap into Settings to pop my trunk from the driver’s seat. That is NOT a setting and it’s annoying for people with kids who make frequent drop offs and pick ups. Oh, but Ford gave us TWO one-tap means of activating max defrost lol. So STUPID @Ford Motor Company.
• I will never be able to permanently turn off Alarm Interior Motion Sensors.
• The "sport tuned" suspension is stiffer than I would like.
• The driver screen buzzes. Ford replaced my screen and the new one buzzes less, but it's still there. Weird that Ford can't source a driver screen that is silent like the much larger infotainment screen.
• Front camera wiring needed to be redone, half-shafts needed to be replaced, HVBJB needed to be replaced. All known issues, all replaced under recall/warranty.
• The 12v (LVB) under the hood is a mess. Mine died without warning just a few months past the 3yr warranty and this is a COMMON problem. When the battery dies it can cause real problems because the doors might not open to allow you to pop the frunk. Ford’s workaround - the electrical leads under the port in the front bumper - is way too complicated and dumb. The LVB shouldn’t be dying this soon and indicates poor battery management software and/or an under-spec’d battery. Finally, Ford buried the LVB under a bunch of plastic cladding and a stabilizer bar making access/replacement a pain. I’ve told Ford about all of this, and basically got a “tough luck” response.

Some of these gripes are fairly minor, some are not, but overall I love the car and I made the right decision at the time.

Great job @Ford Motor Company!! But seriously, read the latest Super Poll and get us more of these software enhancements!

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[Machdiggler]

“ OTA updates are basically finished at this point”

What do you mean by that? I’m still on like 3.5.4, due to being one of the cars that start with a certain number being below a threshold that won’t update until they activate it.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

“ OTA updates are basically finished at this point”

What do you mean by that? I’m still on like 3.5.4, due to being one of the cars that start with a certain number being below a threshold that won’t update until they activate it.

2021 job 1 cars haven't had a non recall OTA in almost a year. If you're still on 3.5.something, you are stunningly far behind. The last update number j recall was well into the 10s. Find someone to update it with FDRS. Or chat with your dealer, something is very amiss.

 

[dan_meh]

Were I in the market now, I would either wait a few more years for the next gen battery/charging tech, or look to buy a used ‘24 still under warranty in the neighborhood of $30,000. As rapidly as these vehicles depreciate it makes zero financial sense to buy a new Mach E with outdated tech at this time.

I think this is spot on. Anyone in the market now should either wait for Gen 2 or buy used 2023.5 or 2024.

Save your money for a rainy day and the UEV platform.

 

[n2585722]

2021 job 1 cars haven't had a non recall OTA in almost a year. If you're still on 3.5.something, you are stunningly far behind. The last update number j recall was well into the 10s. Find someone to update it with FDRS. Or chat with your dealer, something is very amiss.

I have a 2024 GT and have not had an update since the one where they came out and did it for the recall. So it is not just the 2021's.

 

[Machdiggler]

2021 job 1 cars haven't had a non recall OTA in almost a year. If you're still on 3.5.something, you are stunningly far behind. The last update number j recall was well into the 10s. Find someone to update it with FDRS. Or chat with your dealer, something is very amiss.

I have a 2022 GTPE and I went over this with a guy on here that there are certain Mach e’s that are on a sync software number that ford came out and said they won’t do OTA updates on these until something is fixed. I don’t know what needs to be fixed, but I unfortunately am one of those people.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I have a 2022 GTPE and I went over this with a guy on here that there are certain Mach e’s that are on a sync software number that ford came out and said they won’t do OTA updates on these until something is fixed. I don’t know what needs to be fixed, but I unfortunately am one of those people.

Ah, I see. The op has a 21. Since you were commenting about a lack of updates on a thread about 21s its reasonable to assume you had a 21. With that said, you’re at least 18 months behind in updates, probably more. At this point I'd have very serious doubts about an ota fix ever coming if Ford is suggesting they're going to fix cars like yours via a software update. It should have bern done a very long time ago. If its hardware related you might be in a difficult position as your 3 year warranty has or is about to expire. Good luck.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I have a 2024 GT and have not had an update since the one where they came out and did it for the recall. So it is not just the 2021's.

21s have had 2 updates in the last two years as I recall. One of those was the door recall. Things slow down as the Ui and features become fixed. Changing hardware also matters. 21s are old tech now. Yours is merely aging

 

[Teslaeata]

Wow! Happy Birthday SonicBlue

It can be no accident that my experience of my 58month 123,600miler is very similar.

Of SB’s cons, many don’t really bother me so haven’t spoiled my experience, on the whole though, largely similar.

You just gotta love these cars, still drop-dead gorgeous and a pleasure to drive.

Son’s pushing me to buy another……….so he can get mine dead cheap/next to nothing.

Been looking and tempted by another Premium or even a GT or a Rally

But then I come out of a shop and see it across a car park and then drive it again and realise just how much I love this car.

Things that may tempt me is 4WD, race red or that new blue colour, those LED adaptive headlights are also game changers.

My red though is just a thing of beauty and it’s like an old comfortable pair of shoes which look, fit and feel really good so should I change mine? Answers on a postcard……

 

[celestial_knight]

The 2025+ GT is the best car on the market in terms of ADAS and one pedal delight

With its hands on lane centering anywhere there are lines, and its excellent throttle and regen mapping, it’s fun to drive and drives for me

the ADAS drives the long stretches so I don’t have to keep pressing the pedal. And I have it drive as much as it can when I don’t feel like driving. It’s a great system

In one pedal make sure your seating is low and slightly further back with a slight backwards tilt to avoid discomfort. the steering column can be adjusted to be pulled towards you. this also makes the car feel delightfully sporty

EDIT changed my seating and it's even better

 

[jetermeyer]

I have the 21 premium 4X and you are spot on in my opinion. I charge in my garage so charging has never been a problem. I don't take it on long trips, have a second ICE for that. I had the same issues with half shafts and HVBJB but both were done in warranty and the HVBJB was done out of the recall not an issue I had. Same with 12V, had it replaced before any issues. I only have 40K miles on mine. I did just replace my tires. Probably could have gone a little longer but our winter in MA has been brutal and I decided to replace before all the snow. I see nothing out there that peeks my interest so I might consider paying Ford to do all the upgrades that I don't have but as of now everything is working fine, so not sure I will do that. BC 1.3 with lane change was a nice upgrade but I fine in heavy traffic it isn't good enough for me. Lane changes are too slow and distance to cars in front, even with setting doesn't work great with heavy traffic. But I like to drive the car so it doesn't pain me to take control in those situations. All in all I would buy another Mach E but I don't like all the feature deletes over time. The 21 Premium has all the bells and whisltes and even when I don't use some of them I still like that they are there. So by Ford taking a bunch away, I understand the business model but it takes away from what I considered a premium car. Not sure what my next choice will be but content with what I have now.

 

[txaggies07]

I also just hit 5 years and at about 77k miles. I echo a lot of your sentiments.

One thing I disagree with is the public charging now that we have Tesla access (although I imagine this can be very location dependent). I have been making road trips between Houston and New Orleans and it has been great. I would have never tried that with EA only.

I also would struggle to buy a 25/26 model if I had to. I am hoping to keep my car another 5 years and then hopefully tech has improved by then. If I was forced to buy something now though, MachE would likely still my winner.

 

[Vgkfan]

Very nice review, thank you. My 22 premium has almost 21k miles, but my review would be very similar.

 

[txaggies07]

Very nice review, thank you. My 22 premium has almost 21k miles, but my review would be very similar.

21k on a 22. You need to get out and go for some long drives.

 

[Vgkfan]

Im retired and everything I need is either within 25 miles or requires an airline ticket . Maybe it’s the lack of miles, but I still look forward to every drive in this thing(from what I read here, I really don’t think that’s it).

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