Mach-Lee
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Lee
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2021
- Threads
- 204
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- 7,732
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- 15,309
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Vehicles
- 2022 Mach-E Premium AWD
- Occupation
- Sci/Eng
Just want to say I totally agree with your characterization, I also think that's exactly how it happened. Pack was designed for a mid-tier EV with only about 200 HP, and later they optimized the crap out of the power limits to make a GT model with the same pack and hit the max 0-60's without melting stuff. Hence the genesis of the 5 second rule.Not a Ford engineer and no knowledge of how this came about - but I have nearly 2 decades of engineering test experience behind my WAGs here:
First - development of the MME originally started out as a more generic, Escape size crossover and mid-development it was shifted to being a Mustang. That's not a WAG - this is: This led to the design team reshaping the existing design to look more Mustang-ish and likely engineering rework to optimize the already in-design propulsion system to get as much power and acceleration as they could out of something originally conceived to be less sporty. Fortunately, electric motors are pretty good at putting out sporty performance numbers, so they were able to get into the Mustang ballpark for most use cases.
Second - I'm guessing the GT/GTPE development was a further optimization of that system that was behind the base MME development - in other words, I expect they designed the MME and then took the design further with the higher HP front motor for the GT and other optimizations for the GTPE but the MME design was probably pretty locked in by that point.
Third - I bet they discovered the system they designed melted down (literally) at full performance for "extended" periods so late in the design or test phase that reworking it was some combination of too difficult, too time-consuming, and too costly to do and stay anywhere near on schedule. The 5-second limitation would literally get the GTPE from 0 to any legal street speed outside Germany with full performance, and they bet (probably rightly) that this car isn't destined for the track in 99.99% of the cases so a few lost sales weren't worth the costs.
They jumped the shark a bit calling it a Mustang Performance Edition when it's not meant to tear up a track, but at this point - what would you call it? The GT name made sense, what would you suggest for the GTPE to denote that it's the peak of the current MME performance that didn't also imply it's a race car?
Anyway - my point is that you're right it's not a track monster and Ford knew that and decided they're fine with it. It's a really damn quick daily driver that's a joy to drive, and Ford knew that too. Everything else about what "MUSTANG" means went out the window with the MME - this isn't any different than the argument it's not a mustang because it has 4 doors, or cargo space, or an electric engine, or an automatic transmission, or ...
In the end, they ended up melting our HVBJBs.
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