Excellent Q&A with Ford/Mach-E Electric Vehicle Engineer

[Res Nullius]

Tesla's parts shortage issue is not due to sales volume, where did you read that? This post from reddit explains the reasons:

1. No national distribution system. Most automakers have 10-25 warehouses across the USA with significant inventory in each. Tesla doesn't have that because they spent all the money on robots that don't work and falcon wing doors.
2. An extraordinary number of part skus. As another commenter has said, Tesla has an eye watering number of part numbers. It's absurd, frankly, and the issue is that you can't maintain inventory without sinking a lot of cash into spares. So, some percentage of parts are coming direct from the supplier, which takes weeks.
3. Tesla also can't track parts. A telltale sign is people waiting, getting mad and getting attention, and then magically getting parts. This is happening because Tesla will scour all the various inventory points for parts if/when they've got heat, and waddya know? Turns out we had it after all. So...a part inventory system would be good.
4. Because of the constant problems, there are hoarders. When parts aren't available, there's a strong incentive to order parts you know you're going to need later and then hoard them. Because Tesla's inventory tracking sucks, service centers and body shops can get away with hoarding. Most oems have strict rules in place to prevent hoarding if/when a part is in short supply. But not Tesla!
5. Tesla uses suppliers without industry experience. Suppliers can help you with parts distribution, they can help you with sudden demand for spares, they can help convince you to wait to discontinue a part, etc. But if you're working with companies that don't know, then you don't get that.
6. Tesla doesn't have standard collision repair procedures because all the cars are different (well, a lot of them). When a shop starts a collision repair, they order the parts they need based on the recommended repair procedure. If the procedure isn't documented, they just guess. Shops are ordering parts they don't need, which is just about the worst thing that can happen. That takes parts away from other shops and makes them hard to find later (because inventory tracking sucks).
7. Tesla can't ship collision parts without damaging them. To be fair, this is a problem that plagues the industry. But usually oems are good at it, and it's the dealers that screw it up. At Tesla, they do all the screw-ups in house (because dealers are bad).

With Ford's experience in manufacturing and production, the above issues that plague Tesla are ones that Ford should definitely be in a much better position to avoid, so I don't think the Mach-E will have parts supply issues like Tesla at all.

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[Res Nullius]

Discounting a post just because it's from Reddit is just plain silly or denial. Clearly those were well thought out and reasonable explanations for why Tesla may experiences parts shortages.

Simply saying that Tesla's parts shortages is due to selling too many cars explains much less than that Reddit post.

And I stand by my prediction that Ford will not experience nearly the same (or much at all) parts supply issues... if for no other reason than that it has so much more experience manufacturing, inventorying, and dealing with supply chain and suppliers.

 

[Billyk24]

Tesla motor club forum gives one actual owner experience when needing replacement parts.

 

[RetiredDP]

Q: Extremely excited to see the mach-e in person. Will you be getting one as your everyday driver?

Answer:
I'm strongly considering it! I've got my reservation right now and am trying to figure out if I want it not or if I want to save up for tows about a 2-doorhe GT. The benefit for working here is you get to see what's coming next too, so sometimes it can get really tempting!

That last sentence makes me wonder!

Same here...sounds like he knows about an upcoming 2-door Mustang EV and is vacillating as a result. I came from the hot-hatch world (a WRX, an STI, and a Focus RS). Having beaten V8 'Stangs, Camaros and 'Vettes at the track with the RS, I know that it isn't the number of doors that matters...it's the torque (corner exit speed).

 

[RetiredDP]

I was disappointed that he seemed to misinterpret this question. The Q was really asking about sitting height, not ground clearance. But he answered the question as GC. 6" is the GC, not the sitting height.

Darn. Was hoping for a real answer on sitting height (i.e. how high is the driver seat off the ground).

Higher than a Mustang, by a good bit. Feels like a lowish-SUV inside.

 

[BMT1071]

Higher than a Mustang, by a good bit. Feels like a lowish-SUV inside.

You do realize you're responding to a post from over a year ago, right?? He already has his MME.

 

[silverelan]

Love seeing this post kept alive.

 

[BMT1071]

Love seeing this post kept alive.

More like resurrected. ? ?

 

[Jimrpa]

Necropost! Love it! ?

 

[miata]

Love seeing this post kept alive.

Although the demise of the Chevy Camaro may have been exaggerated. GM claims it'll be around in present form until 2024, with an electric replacement to take over in 2025. With starting prices for Corvettes >2X that of a Camaro it wouldn't make sense to leave that big a hole in the lineup unless the market for "muscle" cars really dries up.

I think the real question is what will be the range, and hence the weight, of a 2025 e-Camaro. Will it be an electric SUV or a true electric sports car, as in nimble.? I love the MME, and it's the perfect size for where I am in life, but to my elderly mind, an SUV just doesn't seem like a performance car...you need a long hood for the powerplant, right? But if you look at the small Japanese performance car market even now (heck or even BMW's) they're sedans (or "hot hatchbacks" as one poster said) and today's youth really aren't gobbling up the Hellcats and Mustang GT350's like they did "when I was their age".

The world is changing, and I think Ford gets that better than most, or at least more than Mopar and the Bowtie Boys. And for now, it's all about range in the EV world...you have to match a 15 gallon gas tank. But someone is going to eventually bring out a very light & nimble, 80-mile range e-sports car that's going to set the sports car world on fire. It'll be worthless for a family roadtrip but be a blast for a typical daily commute...just plug into a 2kW circuit every night. So if that's GM's plan for the future Camaro, Ford may wish they didn't use up the Mustang name on a 5000-pound SUV.

Or maybe it's only dinosaurs like me that find the zoom-zoom of a Miata in a corner one of life's great pleasures. As said, things are changing, so maybe by 2025 everyone (but me) will want a self-driving car that allows you to play video games instead of driving.

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