IamA Electric Vehicle Engineer on the Ford Mustang Mach-E, AMA about electric cars, and changes in the auto industry!

What’s the coolest thing about the new Ford Mustang Mach-E? Any cool features?

Oh jeesh, personally I’m really taken with the design but I’d have to say the new Sync system is a standout, which is the infotainment system. The tactile knob and 15.5” screen is really wonderful, and the system itself is I think going to be the best in the industry. The processor and memory for it allows it to run so fluidly and be futureproofed, and the GUI is just top notch, allowing you so both use the in-car system and Andoid/Apple CarPlay. This is nice because I know most people usually have to choose between systems whereas now you can split the screen in half and have the best of both worlds.

Another one that hasn’t gotten talked about much yet and is really going to set the vehicle apart is just behind the steering wheel. If you look closely, you’ll see the facial monitoring camera (not in a creepy way, stays in the vehicle) which allows future ‘autopilot’ features to be enabled without holding the wheel like in a Tesla. It’s actually really nice because it allows a much more natural experience and you can rest your arms.

Will those hand free features be released for free over the air? I've sen that they're being released OTA, but haven't seen a confirmation that it will be free.

This one Still forthcoming, sorry. Suffice to say it will be an analogous situation to the Tesla ownership experience.

Hopefully we'll get that information soon. As someone who has a Mach E on pre-order. This is very important information to me (and I'm sure others in my situation).

There’s going to be a ton more information closer to launch, but suffice to say I wouldn’t worry. The dealers are actually going to be getting a wealth of information too, so feel free to reach out to them as it gets closer to the release date!

Tesla is crazy expensive to do collision repair on, even for small damage, what are they doing wrong here, and what are you doing to keep repair costs affordable?

The same service model for our ICE vehicles will be used for the Mach-E, so a ton of service centers are available and we have an entire division of the company dedicated to this. Our warranty also is a ton more comprehensive than Tesla's, with all powertrain components covered by 8yrs, instead of just the battery in Tesla.

From an engineering perspective, what separates the Mach-E from the other current EV competition?

I think that as far as powertrain goes, ours wasn’t designed to be compliance but really performance. Besides Tesla, no other Major OEM is out there offerings an affordable sporty vehicle.

What that translates to is that the powertrain is really responsive and high performing with some nonstandard components you won’t find outside of Tesla. Features-wise, the autonomy and infotainment systems are really going to be class-leading. Tesla has a great head start but I think we’ve made a significant competitor with not much time. And if hazard to say that our infotainment and cluster outclass them.

Speaking of performance, there are other vehicles being announced with faster 0-60 times at the same or lower price points - any chance that Ford is trying to beat the specs that were originally announced?

Same question on range, given the recent increases in the Model Y's supposed range.

So range and 0-60 are really something that auto makers design for and then fine tune with vehicle settings and testing over the course of month. Then there’s a whole nother later to it in how you choose to certify via the EPA. You could certify the same vehicle via the EPA with different paperwork and turn out with a 30mi difference in range, but effectively the same real world range.

Anyways, in regards to the Mach-E it’s still in testing. We have announced our targets but of course are working to meet/exceed them.

As for the lower price points, I think one major advantage we have over something like the Model Y Performance is that our vehicle is more targeted at meeting federal and state rebates. In EV rebate states, we have at times a close to $10k price advantage over a model y once you run the numbers.