American bought Mach-E in Europe?

[MacheMe]

I have a Mach-E First Edition on order. We’re planning to move to Germany (hopefully more than six months after I get the car, because of the extra import taxes)!

Does anyone know if the US version of the Mach-E would need any kind of conversion to make it legal to drive and own in Germany, beyond the license plates?

Is the European charging network compatible with the US made cars?

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[macchiaz-o]

Is the European charging network compatible with the US made cars?

It's not particularly compatible. The North American Mach-E has a single phase on-board charger instead of a three-phase capable one. You may be able to get an adapter to be able to plug it in, but if you are connecting to a 3-phase power outlet, you'll get 1/3rd the charging speed you'd achieve on the European version of the car.

You also won't be able to plug in to high speed chargers in Europe, which use CCS2 instead of CCS1. Again, an adapter *might* be available but it's probably rather expensive and may not be fully safe or reliable.

Other things will probably also fail to work -- anything requiring cellular connectivity, for instance, such as FordPass, navigation, Sirius radio, etc.

 

[RonTCat]

I have a Mach-E First Edition on order. We’re planning to move to Germany (hopefully more than six months after I get the car, because of the extra import taxes)!

Does anyone know if the US version of the Mach-E would need any kind of conversion to make it legal to drive and own in Germany, beyond the license plates?

Is the European charging network compatible with the US made cars?

Generally, yes.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

It's not particularly compatible. The North American Mach-E has a single phase on-board charger instead of a three-phase capable one. You may be able to get an adapter to be able to plug it in, but if you are connecting to a 3-phase power outlet, you'll get 1/3rd the charging speed you'd achieve on the European version of the car.

You also won't be able to plug in to high speed chargers in Europe, which use CCS2 instead of CCS1. Again, an adapter *might* be available but it's probably rather expensive and may not be fully safe or reliable.

Other things will probably also fail to work -- anything requiring cellular connectivity, for instance, such as FordPass, navigation, Sirius radio, etc.

Generally, yes.

well, I see we have consensus here.

 

[Jimrpa]

Cellular should be fine (it’s 4G, so most bands are compatible. You’ll just have to get a data plan for the car. Hopefully it uses an eSIm). Can’t speak to whether any services delivered over cellular are geofenced.
you’re out of luck onSirius Satellite. I believe Sirius 360 L includes streaming over the internet, but that’s probably geofenced as well (thank you big music for your stupid, Byzantine licensing rules ) I have no idea if any of the sign recognition will work - European signs don’t look anything like US signs and I’m sure there are country/region-specific builds of Sync 4A. Nav might work, in that it may display a geographic area and the car’s position. I would’t count on roads or POIs.

 

[MacheMe]

Oy. Now I’m not sure what to do. The dealership said I would lose my $1500 deposit if I back out now (or a month ago when I first asked for that matter). I really wanted this car too, and we have the charger in the garage and everything ready, but with Covid we’re not driving much.

Do I get the car, keep it for long enough to get the tax credit, and then sell it with very low mileage? I’m not sure how much I would lose on depreciation and insurance.

Move it to Europe and have it not work very well?

Or lose my deposit? Ugh.

 

[timbop]

Oy. Now I’m not sure what to do. The dealership said I would lose my $1500 deposit if I back out now (or a month ago when I first asked for that matter). I really wanted this car too, and we have the charger in the garage and everything ready, but with Covid we’re not driving much.

Do I get the car, keep it for long enough to get the tax credit, and then sell it with very low mileage? I’m not sure how much I would lose on depreciation and insurance.

Move it to Europe and have it not work very well?

Or lose my deposit? Ugh.

If your employer is relocating you, they might be able to help you out with the $1500 lost deposit. Your best bet is probably to cancel the order, and maybe work with the dealer to see if you bring them a new buyer they'll give you the deposit back. I doubt they will because they know you'll never buy another car from them so they have no incentive to be reasonable.

If you buy the car it is dead certain you'll lose money reselling it this year, and you won't know how much that loss will be. You also won't get the $7500 until you file your taxes next year, so at the very least you'll be out of pocket on the difference.

*EDIT*
Forgot to mention the shipping: it will be expensive to ship your car there, and as stated the charging pins are different in the US vs EU. Without an adapter you won't be able to charge anywhere; I know Ford had an adapter going the other way.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Oy. Now I’m not sure what to do. The dealership said I would lose my $1500 deposit if I back out now (or a month ago when I first asked for that matter). I really wanted this car too, and we have the charger in the garage and everything ready, but with Covid we’re not driving much.

Do I get the car, keep it for long enough to get the tax credit, and then sell it with very low mileage? I’m not sure how much I would lose on depreciation and insurance.

Move it to Europe and have it not work very well?

Or lose my deposit? Ugh.

If you are fairly certain about the overseas move, then buying a new car here is not a good plan. Especially a car that is both "connected" (cellular, etc) and electric, due to the regional differences.

The $1,500 fee sucks. I wonder if speaking to the general manager there may result in a bit more compassion for your situation?

If you really want a Mach-E, wait until you're heading to Germany for sure, and then buy it there, locally. You'll have a much better experience overall. No, it won't be a First Edition, but at least you can get the red painted calipers and seat stitching over there, if you opt for all wheel drive. The same Rapid Red paint color is available there, too.

I disagree with previous responses that set expectations that charging and cellular connectivity would be easy.

I would not buy a ~$60k car here in the states with any expectation that charging or connected services will be a reasonable/enjoyable experience once the vehicle is moved to Europe. Maybe you will find a way to make everything work, but I'd not be at all shocked if you run into many roadblocks.

 

[RonTCat]

Oy. Now I’m not sure what to do. The dealership said I would lose my $1500 deposit if I back out now (or a month ago when I first asked for that matter). I really wanted this car too, and we have the charger in the garage and everything ready, but with Covid we’re not driving much.

Do I get the car, keep it for long enough to get the tax credit, and then sell it with very low mileage? I’m not sure how much I would lose on depreciation and insurance.

Move it to Europe and have it not work very well?

Or lose my deposit? Ugh.

There was not a unique European variant for this vehicle. It should be essentially the same as the US version, and most of the time all languages are loaded into the display system. Ask your dealer if anything is needed to be done to the car to drive it in the EU. Usually vehicles are "homologated" for different regions, and there are only minor differences, like EU vehicles needing tow hooks.

 

[ARK]

If I were in your position, I would also see if I could find a forum for American military families in Germany or around other major US bases across the continent.

I’m sure someone in that community has probably tried this with a Tesla or another electric and could tell you how it worked out. Same thing with the 4G connection, I bet some American military family took a Ford they bought in the US to Europe and could say what features worked or do not work for their car’s connected features, albeit Sync 4 is brand new.

 

[Mach-E VLOG]

Besides the obvious concerns about charging and connectivity, you might also have to change the turn signals and add a rear fog light. Twice I had cars shipped to Europe - one to the UK and one to Germany. I had to change out some of my turn signals because they were red and they insist that they are amber. I'm not sure about the European Mach-Es, but I do know they have different turn signals. I also had to add a rear fog light. It wasn't too hard to do any of that but that was with incandescent bulbs and old 80s and 90s wiring. I don't know how it would be today or if they have waivers or anything.

(This was when I was in the Air Force. The military will ship a car for you if your tour is a long one. It was an interesting experience. The driving test in Germany was really hard. In the UK, we got a pass because of the military. Of course, driving in the UK with a left hand drive car was quite the challenge.)

 

[dbsb3233]

If your employer is relocating you, they might be able to help you out with the $1500 lost deposit. Your best bet is probably to cancel the order, and maybe work with the dealer to see if you bring them a new buyer they'll give you the deposit back. I doubt they will because they know you'll never buy another car from them so they have no incentive to be reasonable.

OTOH, the car is such a hot commodity now that a dealer might get talked into "making an exception" just to get their hands on it to sell to someone else (perhaps with ADM).

Probably not, but he could try to make the case.

 

[timbop]

OTOH, the car is such a hot commodity now that a dealer might get talked into "making an exception" just to get their hands on it to sell to someone else (perhaps with ADM).

Probably not, but he could try to make the case.

Yes, but they will be able to sell the car with ADM regardless of whether they give back the $1500. @MacheMe really has no leverage other than the threat to buy the car at MSRP, which isn't much of a threat. Certainly it is worth talking to the GM, but there's not much she can do

 

[BlueMach]

I have a Mach-E First Edition on order. We’re planning to move to Germany (hopefully more than six months after I get the car, because of the extra import taxes)!

Does anyone know if the US version of the Mach-E would need any kind of conversion to make it legal to drive and own in Germany, beyond the license plates?

Is the European charging network compatible with the US made cars?

You will not be able to charge the vehicle at any charging station in Europe, as it will come with the US SAEJ1772/CCS-1 outlet, and all chargers in Europe will use Type2/CCS-2.

While some have pointed out that "it's just 4G" for the connectivity - the US vehicles will have an AT&T SIM that will almost certainly not be provisioned for roaming in Europe. Perhaps someone internal to Ford would know how to reprogram them, but there is no way a customer can. No dealer is going to be willing to try either.

It's *possible* that buying a European modem part# and plugging it in will work, assuming all the wires are the same and the US firmware build lets it recognize it.

If you're willing to use the car solely with at-home charging, you can probably use the included convenience cord and adapters, but that runs a potential safety risk as most outlet adapters are not designed for constant high-load use.

Personally, this seems like a very bad idea.

If you want a Mustang Mach-E in Europe, buy one in Europe. At least then you'll be able to drive it around Europe and use public fast charging, etc.

 

[malba2366]

You can supposedly use this adapter to charge it at home. I don't know if this actually works. Fast charging will probably not work.

I would still walk away. How did you end up with a $1500 deposit? The deposits collected by ford were $500.

https://www.evseadapters.com/products/european-us-type-2-iec-mennekes-to-type-1-j1772-ev-adapter/

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