Mach-E Will Not Migrate to Universal EV Platform

[GreaseMonkey]

Is the UEV platform geared against performance?

I've been assuming that the platform can accommodate any level of performance, through variations in motors and battery sizes and so on, within the platform specs. Is this not the case?

I understand UEV is based on 400v charging, so charging speeds will not be exciting, but otherwise I am not aware of any reason why UEV vehicle performance could not be very high.

Nothing is black or white, but I’d say this is a very dark shade of gray.

The platform impacts performance a lot. It heavily influences what type of suspension and where to locate it. What type of steering. How large or small your wheelbase is and the location (maybe even size) of your motors. Finally how big and how high or low your battery pack is. That is a lot of critical systems that together and individually heavily impact performance.

I would think of the platform as the layout of a house. A developer puts a few layouts together for a new construction project with some purpose in mind. They could be developing luxury or affordable homes. The layouts would be very different. But can you take the layout of an affordable home and load it with expensive materials and nice appliances to make it look like luxury? Yes, but you would be missing key features that luxury buyers look for (a porch, powder room, several bathrooms, fireplaces, wine cellar, etc) and your rooms would be smaller and ceilings lower. And you probably won’t satisfy their requirements.

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[OrchidMania]

Call me shallow. But I love my mache. My next car must have a large screen and use CarPlay. That leaves out Rivian , Cadillac , or Telsa. None use CarPlay. The only company that can keep up with on board technology is probably Tesla. But I just can’t!!!

 

[ChehRob]

What's wrong with the MME.

Electrical needs to be redone, higher voltages, less copper, faster charging.

Electronics needs to be redone, and integrated.

Give the unibody an update, maybe wring 50 lb away.

Engineer all of the above to be a lot cheaper to make.

Door handles updated, low voltage battery failures better managed, emergency access etc.

That front camera is not all that great, The redo, should incorporate Lidar at least as a possibility.

Ford seems confident that it can offer Level 4 ADAS on some highways (and I suspect better Level 3 on a lot more)in that UEV. I don't see any reason why the MME's existing frame and electronics wouldn't incorporate this.

The existing model has a lot of strengths.

 

[dalola]

@Ford Motor Company

Brian, not AI, from Ford, are you watching from a dark basement? Jump in brother! The sheeple need reassurance!

 

[Jimrpa]

No, It is just barely more than a connector. A NACS to CCS1 adaptor like most of us have is made up of two HV DC pins to swap polarity position and adapt connectors, a couple of low voltage signal pins, a ground return pin, a low voltage thermal switch (or two) and a low voltage microswitch. The software protocol is compatible and there are no smarts in it.

Most of the cost is in the thick copper buss bars and injection molding. These are already part of an integrated NACS port. So no extra cost.

Has anyone ever done a teardown of a NACS-to-CCS1 adaptor? I’m thinking like the teardowns jerryrigeverything or ifixit do.

 

[Jimrpa]

Engineer all of the above to be a lot cheaper to make.

Door handles updated,

That front camera is not all that great, The redo, should incorporate Lidar at least as a possibility.

The existing model has a lot of strengths.

What’s wrong with the door handles?

what’s wrong with the front camera?

 

[devmach-e]

No, It is just barely more than a connector. A NACS to CCS1 adaptor like most of us have is made up of two HV DC pins to swap polarity position and adapt connectors, a couple of low voltage signal pins, a ground return pin, a low voltage thermal switch (or two) and a low voltage microswitch. The software protocol is compatible and there are no smarts in it.

Most of the cost is in the thick copper buss bars and injection molding. These are already part of an integrated NACS port. So no extra cost.

You would be incorrect. NACS carries AC and DC power on the same set of pins. The car has to have extra hardware in order to route the incoming power to the appropriate location. AC gets routed to the internal AC to DC charger. DC goes directly to the battery. Have you ever wondered why you need two separate adapters to use Superchargers and Destination chargers?

 

[silverelan]

The styling and raw power of my GT are incredible. I just wish I had more range and faster charging capabilities. A second gen MME with modern EV tech would solve a lot of its shortcomings.

I will hold onto my MME GT until we get a new Administration in office that is less hostile to automotive manufacturing in general and EVs in particular. 2029-2030 might be a good opportunity for me to buy something new and I hope Ford has the right product to offer.

 

[ChehRob]

If the low volt battery fails there is no easy way to get into the car.

Front camera loses lane detection far more often than my 2019 RAV4, let alone the Tesla. I really like that Tesla feature which shows other cars near you on the screen. There is a particular highway bridge with narrow lanes and on a dark rainy night the MME camera winks out.

 

[dan_meh]

… people are presuming that the mme currently loses money because Ford’s EV losses have been significant. That’s not necessarily the case. The mme development costs were accounted for several budget cycles ago. Its quite possible that its making a small profit with each sale, breaking even, or incurring a small loss. Ford doesn’t break out model losses and gains in its reporting.

Yep. The Internet: plenty of unfounded confidence. That includes armchair economists who can’t tell their capex from opex and who can’t spell ROI.

The UEV will also “lose money” in its early years. I look forward to a sudden (“you guys!”) realization when the armchair CFOs see that Ford is paying down R&D on the platform.

 

[SteveMach-ee]

Has anyone ever done a teardown of a NACS-to-CCS1 adaptor? I’m thinking like the teardowns jerryrigeverything or ifixit do.

Yes!

 

[markboris]

If the low volt battery fails there is no easy way to get into the car.

Only if the car was LOCKED when the 12V battery failed. If car was unlocked all doors will open even if the 12V battery isn't even connected because of a capacitor built into the door modules.

 

[SteveMach-ee]

You would be incorrect. NACS carries AC and DC power on the same set of pins. The car has to have extra hardware in order to route the incoming power to the appropriate location. AC gets routed to the internal AC to DC charger. DC goes directly to the battery. Have you ever wondered why you need two separate adapters to use Superchargers and Destination chargers?

What seriously?? Did you actually read what I wrote and what I was responding to? The original comment was about the cost and complexity to change to a native NACS port. My point was no cost and no complexity. OK?

 

[ResoluteGreen]

Feels like a big miss if the new platform won't support 800V architecture.

I'm new to the whole Mustang thing, but hasn't the Mustang historically been about affordable performance? Yeah it's a powerful car, but a relatively affordable one. They've shared platforms with their economy vehicles before.

 

[ChehRob]

The '64.5 and '65 Mustangs were a budget muscle car. Today that almost sounds like an oxymoron. I only had the 289, but boy would that thing go. Only happened to me once in my lifetime, but a bit of careless speeding and too sharp exit put me in a four-wheel drift. Scared the H out of me, but we both survived without so much as a scratch.

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