By Scott Shephard
Deb and I aren’t “car people.” Over the last 20 years or so we’ve owned 5 Ford F-150s, 3 minivans and two Toyota Priuses. These vehicles have been strictly utilitarian and never been bought or driven for the raw thrill of it. For thrills we go through the drive-thru at DQ and buy Blizzards or I walk the aisles at MAC’s Hardware looking at things I didn’t know existed but which I know I need. I could spend a joyful hour studying the nuts and bolts section. Who knew that there were so many different grades and varieties?All of this is to say that we don’t get our kicks on Route 66.
But I’ll have to admit while most of my interest in an electric Mustang was reasoned, some of it sprang not so much from the intellect as it did from some emotional well. Nice lines. Good curves. 0-60mph in 6 seconds. (Compare that to a lethargic 12 seconds from a minivan.) TMI, I know, but there is something about an electric car that I find . . . titillating. (I get a funny feeling even using that word here.)
So when I started to research the Mustang Mach-E, I was initially surprised by the negative reaction the Mach-E got from true car people. There was anger which was at times venomous. One of my Facebook friends in reacting to yesterday’s post used the word “appalling.”
I didn’t understand these reactions until I started to realize that the Ford Mustang and the Pony image are iconic symbols of one of the most revered muscle cars of the 20th century. The sound and the fury (and the huge carbon footprint) are what I imagine many true car people find titillating (There it is again!). Imagine Steve McQueen driving a nearly silent 4 door electric hatchback in a chase scene through the streets of San Francisco. He might as well be driving a Dodge minivan.
But I have a theory about Ford’s decision to use the Mustang brand on their new all-electric car (BEV - battery electric vehicle). Ford understood, as I kind of do now, that for many car people, taking away the sensory experience of a powerful ICE (internal combustion engine) will destroy the car as they know it. The sound, the feel and the smell of exhaust are an important part driving a car.
But Ford knows, as do all automakers, that the EV is the future. The ICE, as a recent Forbes Magazine article suggested, is “a dead man walking.” And the Mustang Mach-E is Ford’s way of ripping the bandaid off. “Let’s start with one of our most iconic cars, turn it into a kind of family/sports car and see what happens.”
And look at me. I own one. 12,000 others do, too. And thousands more are lining up. If you ordered one today, you’d be lucky to get it 6 months from now. When we bought ours, it was the only one at a Ford dealer in the state of South Dakota. Ford executives were no doubt holding their breath when this car was revealed late last year but they must be smiling now. The Mustang Mach-E is Motor Trend’s EV of the Year.
I’d have to say that I’m now a “car person.” But you’d have to put “electric” in front of that. But for true car people who are having difficulty dealing with a somewhat quieter and odorless auto future, the same dealer that sold us our Mustang has a classic Mustang on the lot. And they have a Mustang Shelby GT500 arriving soon. It has a $99,000 price tag and goes from 0-60 in 3.3 seconds. It’s only got 2 doors and it gets 12 miles per gallon using premium gasoline. All of that certainly makes a statement.
But so does the Mustang Mach-E.