Mach-E: The Existential Debate

[kellstd]

The longer I have the Mach-E the more it perplexes me. The more I fall in love with it. The more it somewhat breaks my heart when thinking about combustion engines. The more I have to explain what it is to some stuck in a linear way of thinking. The grin I crack when rolling by a gas station.

I love nothing more than something that challenges my way of thinking and sparks conversation. Incites debate. Snaps a neck or two....

Owning an array of Mustangs to include a Foxbody, GT350R, and GT500 I have presented the Mach-E to these various groups of owners. It is really interesting to see the varied responses you get. I have been extremely pleased with the Mach-E so far, but even I have a hard time telling people it is a Mustang given the heritage I am used too. I really have to think about it for what is, and not what the name tells me its supposed to be.

Out of curiosity, when you talk about your MME do you even call it a Mustang, or just a Mach-E? Does this vehicle give you the feeling of being a Mustang owner?

What wheels/tires are they? They look great!

 

[Jimrpa]

The longer I have the Mach-E the more it perplexes me. The more I fall in love with it. The more it somewhat breaks my heart when thinking about combustion engines. The more I have to explain what it is to some stuck in a linear way of thinking. The grin I crack when rolling by a gas station.

I love nothing more than something that challenges my way of thinking and sparks conversation. Incites debate. Snaps a neck or two....

Owning an array of Mustangs to include a Foxbody, GT350R, and GT500 I have presented the Mach-E to these various groups of owners. It is really interesting to see the varied responses you get. I have been extremely pleased with the Mach-E so far, but even I have a hard time telling people it is a Mustang given the heritage I am used too. I really have to think about it for what is, and not what the name tells me its supposed to be.

Out of curiosity, when you talk about your MME do you even call it a Mustang, or just a Mach-E? Does this vehicle give you the feeling of being a Mustang owner?

I ALWAYS call it a Mustang. You may have noticed that I go out of my way to correct people who say, or imply that the vehicle is not a Mustang, or who do not call it a Mustang. Ford has made it very clear that they used the team responsible for the driving dynamics of other Mustangs to develop the Mustang Mach E and that the Mustang Mach E is just another model in the Mustang line up, just like a convertible or a fastback. And it has a different engine and power train, just line other Mustangs can have V-8s and EcoBoosts. Until Ford says “No, really, you just have a Fiesta Electric, we’ve been kidding to juice sales”, I have a Mustang Mach E, just like my friend has a Mustang 350”.

 

[Jimrpa]

I also own a '65 Mustang convertible, so it's called a "Mustang" while my new one is a "Mach-E" just so people who know I have both understand which car I'm talking about. When strangers talk to me about my car, I call it a Mustang - they have no idea about my '65.
This has nothing to do with the "not a Mustang" thinking.

My F150 is called "F150". When I get my F150 Lightning EV, it will also be an "F150".

That is inconsistent. You don’t call both of your Mustangs “Mustang”, but you’re going to call both of your F-150s “F-150”? Isn’t the F-150 Lightning not a “proper pickup truck”? You can’t get it with duallies. You can’t modify it to “roll coal”. I can’t imagine ANYONE being brave enough to drive anywhere in central or northern PA in an F-150 lightning - they’d likely be laughed out of the state ? shouldn’t it just be called “lightning”? ???? (actually, lightning sounds MUCH cooler anyway!)

 

[mwsno]

The longer I have the Mach-E the more it perplexes me. The more I fall in love with it. The more it somewhat breaks my heart when thinking about combustion engines. The more I have to explain what it is to some stuck in a linear way of thinking. The grin I crack when rolling by a gas station.

I love nothing more than something that challenges my way of thinking and sparks conversation. Incites debate. Snaps a neck or two....

Owning an array of Mustangs to include a Foxbody, GT350R, and GT500 I have presented the Mach-E to these various groups of owners. It is really interesting to see the varied responses you get. I have been extremely pleased with the Mach-E so far, but even I have a hard time telling people it is a Mustang given the heritage I am used too. I really have to think about it for what is, and not what the name tells me its supposed to be.

Out of curiosity, when you talk about your MME do you even call it a Mustang, or just a Mach-E? Does this vehicle give you the feeling of being a Mustang owner?

Pretty! ?

 

[Maquis]

That is inconsistent. You don’t call both of your Mustangs “Mustang”, but you’re going to call both of your F-150s “F-150”? Isn’t the F-150 Lightning not a “proper pickup truck”? You can’t get it with duallies. You can’t modify it to “roll coal”. I can’t imagine ANYONE being brave enough to drive anywhere in central or northern PA in an F-150 lightning - they’d likely be laughed out of the state ? shouldn’t it just be called “lightning”? ???? (actually, lightning sounds MUCH cooler anyway!)

The difference is I will not own both trucks at the same time so no need to differentiate!

 

[VaderMachE]

I've owned two mustang GT's in my time. 1987 and again in 2014. I think it's smart marketing because it causes discussion, or "buzz".

I've also owned a couple of Corvettes. When General Motors changed the tail lights on the C7...there were those that swore it was the death of the car, it would never sell, and they'd never own one. The C7 went on to be the most successful selling Vette.?

I call mine a Mustang Mach E, and love seeing the pony on the front.

 

[markboris]

Love the wheels on your Mach E! What are they, and what size wheel/tires? PS I have the exact same model and color-love it!

Thanks David for the complement on the wheels. I love them too. They are Signature Wheels SV706's in gloss black. 20x8.5" front, 20x10" rear. Tires are Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV 255/45/20 front, 295/40/20 rear. The entire setup was about 14 lbs lighter than the OEM wheels and tires. Some more photos here: #67

While I really like the Infinite Blue color (very unique) it is too dark for me for a Daily Driver. I like keeping my cars very cIean and Infinite Blue tends to show dust and dirt faster than I like. I had never seen Infinite Blue before I ordered my car and was expecting a lighter color. I ordered another Mach-E in Iconic Silver which will take the place of this car hopefully later this year. Also, I may be changing out the tires to the Michelin Pilot Sport 4s which is a tire I am very use to on my other cars. The Pilot Sport 4 SUV tire while very quiet, is just not as stiff in the sidewall (gives a smoother ride) than the 4s and the handling is a bit mushy for me.

 

[PrimeFuture]

I never call it a Mustang when talking about the car. I just call it a Mach-E however if someone is interested in learning more about it, I do say it is the new "electric Mustang". My first car back in 1970 was a '64 Mustang and in the last 50+ years have had 9 more. It is hard for me to call this car a Mustang but no matter what Ford calls it, I truly love the car. I enjoy driving it more than any other car I've had besides my Focus RS and GT500.

Seeing these two Mustangs together increases me seeing the Mach-E as the member of the Mustang family. Sure they're different, but there are tons of similar design cues. The Mach-E feels like a Mustang that's grown up, softened its edges, taken on more responsibilities, but is still a young buck at heart.

 

[Jimrpa]

The difference is I will not own both trucks at the same time so no need to differentiate!

Ah! Got it! I still like “Lightning”. Someone should come out with a “zapper” (like a van de graf machine thing) as a come back for the “rolling coal” idiots ?

 

[Dr Obnxs]

I'm Norwegian and live in Sweden, I have a 2016 Mustang GT that I daily. I call my ordered Mach E just the Mach E, and the Mustang GT the Mustang. I think that is mostly because I currently have a "classic" Mustang as you do.
However here in Europe, I feel there isn't quite the same animosity towards the badging as in the US. I've followed the recent days large number of deliveries of cars in Norway over instagram, and people seem to LOVE that they finally get to own a Mustang.
Mustangs are extremely rare and myth based in Norway, where because of taxes, the classic cars have been unavailable or very expensive (think 130.000 USD for a base GT).

The realities of (my) economy here is such that I have to sell my 2016 Mustang GT to pay for the Mach E. Since the day of ordering I've several times gone from complete misery to looking forward to it. I'm still somewhere in between. Because I love my Mustang GT to bits. It has a Roush exhaust and sounds extremely lovely. The car is still rare enough here in Sweden that over the 5 years of ownership I've gotten a lot of attention and still do. (if one cares for that, but maybe I do). Just this morning, I was on a company Teams call, and I took it from the car, and at one point, just for the heck of it, I accelerated hard from 0 to 160 or so, with the mic on, and everybody in my company just laughed. Such things kinda make my day. I think I might fell a tear the day I have to let it go.

An additional info is that I've gotten married and have a child on the way.

One takeaway I have from your post, is that as a current Mustang owner, you also grow to really like the Mach E. I hope I'll do the same.

Minor correction, a 2016 isn't a classic Mustang. 1964.5-1973 is a classic Mustang!

 

[markboris]

Seeing these two Mustangs together increases me seeing the Mach-E as the member of the Mustang family. Sure they're different, but there are tons of similar design cues. The Mach-E feels like a Mustang that's grown up, softened its edges, taken on more responsibilities, but is still a young buck at heart.

Here are a few more shots for you Michael.

 

[phidauex]

Haven't most F150s been double-cab grocery-getters for years? Just a big station wagon with no lid on the back. j/k, mostly (single cab, extended if you MUST).

 

[DRB]

When they make a BEV version of the Mustang coupe, the Smurfmobile is getting traded in. As much as I love this vehicle, it is NOT what I think of when someone says “Mustang”.

Yep. The conversation among coupe and convertible owners would be a different one if the Mach-E was a replacement for those cars. It isn't; it's another kind of vehicle in an apparently expanding line-up that will use the pony badge. There's another generation of the muscle car in the future, and an electric version of that one will probably be the successor to the ICE version.

 

[50 Deep]

What wheels/tires are they? They look great!

These are our Signature Wheel Multipiece SV301S in a 22"

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