Is the Mach-E really 7 years behind Tesla?

[KT-PNW]

Looks like the Bolt is on there.

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[dbsb3233]

Looks like the Bolt is on there.

Good catch. I forgot Opel is the Chevy brand there.

 

[DaveRuns]

Depends on which aspects. In some aspects, the Mach-e is likely to be better than anything Tesla has (styling, build quality, service network). In other ways they're a few years behind (batteries, range, charging network, software, autonomy).

But not 7 years. What that panelist fails to note is that Ford learned a lot from Tesla and is joining the game with a head start relative to where Tesla started. They don't have to totally reinvent the wheel like Tesla did. By getting in the game now, Ford starts off with far better batteries available than Tesla had a decade ago. And Ford doesn't have to build their own charging network from the ground up.

Ford also already knows how to mass produce vehicles. Tesla had to learn and perfect that from scratch. And Ford is actually able to deliver on time without the perpetual delays that plagued Tesla.

...so basically, Ford is “behind” in every category that counts for electric vehicles.

 

[dbsb3233]

...so basically, Ford is “behind” in every category that counts for electric vehicles.

Not at all. Because 90% of an electric vehicle is still the vehicle.

 

[DaveRuns]

If I were choosing a hotel or restaurant,
Sure. For an ELECTRIC car, you’d think all those other qualities would be more important. Apparently others think so as well, considering Tesla continues to break sales records, even though people know all about the quality issues. Why is that? Because they place more emphasis on the guts of an electric car. They’re a tech company that happens to sell a vehicle.

 

[RonTCat]

You can measure how much Ford might be behind in autonomous driving in days and months, not years.
https://www.argo.ai/

 

[Nak]

You can measure how much Ford might be behind in autonomous driving in days and months, not years.
https://www.argo.ai/

Apples and oranges. Argo, Waymo, etc are developing a different kind of autonomous vehicle than Tesla. The Argo/Waymo model requires a heavily detailed map for a small geographic area. Every driveway, every pothole, every curb will be mapped. Get outside of the vehicle's geographic area and it's useless. Tesla is attempting to develop an AI that will recognize potholes and curbs and driveways, etc. A Tesla vehicle will--if Tesla is successful--be able to drive virtually anywhere. Regardless, both systems once complete won't be for privately owned cars. Rather, they'll be for commercial use only. Tesla's FSD when--and if--complete will cost in excess of $100K. Ford is not days or months behind in this, they're not even in the same game as Tesla. Tesla is the only company that has the data required to even try and build an AI driver. Almost every Tesla car on the road is gathering data every day. That data has taken years to gather; no one else can gather that data at this time.

For a lot of people, autonomous driving really isn't going to be a factor in their decision. If you don't care to be part of this effort, it's about as relevant to you as who builds the better fighter jet. It's interesting to be sure, but i f you don't want to invest a sizeable sum in a system that may or may not become fully autonomous then it's only that: interesting.

 

[dbsb3233]

Regardless, both systems once complete won't be for privately owned cars. Rather, they'll be for commercial use only.

That's the key point. There really isn't much reason for private vehicles to have FSD. Seems like Tesla is just using people as guinea pigs to test the technology for them. The real value in FSD is commercial, as you said. AV taxi pods, delivery vehicles, etc.

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