Yahoo Autos The Ford Mustang Mach-E Is Not Built For Sustained Track Performance
When Porsche launched its first electric car, the company made clear that it had prioritized sustained performance over extended periods of hard usage. Ford is making its position equally clear: the Mustang Mach-E was not built with sustained performance as one of its goals.
That's what Dave Pericak, Ford's global director of icons that headed up the Mach-E's development, told us when asked if the car could handle one or more laps at the Nürburgring. When pressed further, Ford's global EV communications manager Emma Bergg had a simple response: it's an SUV. And she's right, that's not usually priority one for SUV buyers.
Neither are burnouts. We got mixed answers on whether traction control could be fully defeated: a yes from Pericak, followed by no from Chief Program Engineer Ron Heiser, followed by a final answer from Pericak that the team would be making changes before the final release next year. But that left a broader question. If it's not for the track, if it might not rip burnouts, if it's available with all-wheel drive, if it's a four-door, if it's electric, and if it's a crossover, then what exactly links the Mach-E to the Mustang brand?
Because while the Mustang stands for accessible performance and fun, Ford has had a lot accessible performance cars that aren't Mustangs. The Focus RS, for instance, shares an engine with the Mustang EcoBoost High-Performance Pack, which is more than the Mach-E shares with any current Mustang coupe. It was also cheaper than the Mustang Mach-E, as were the Fiesta ST and Focus ST. They're not Mustangs, though.
So if it's not cheap performance nor form factor nor driven wheels nor power source that makes a Mustang, it's not immediately apparent what does. What the Mustang means, Pericak said, is hard to define directly.
"It's hard to put words to, but we know when we do it right," Pericak said. According to him, there's a soul and a holistic experience that defines the Mustang brand. It's not a faster version of a normal car, it's a performance product that has "the whole equation figured out."
