silvrsvt

I see what I said went completely over your head-people will not buy a sedan type vehicle (as borne out by sedan sales in the general market) due to the perceived improvement a two box vehicle gives them when it comes to having a more flexible vehicle that can do more (since it has more interior space) then a sedan. The increase in MPGs or Range isn't worth it to the consumer, they rather have a Swiss army knife of a vehicle then be boxed in to a sedan/hatchback shape, because vehicles are more expensive and people are keeping them longer. If a two box shape only impacts range 10-20% overall vs a sedan fastback shape, people will give up that additional range, even more so if charging is almost as easy as stopping at a gas station with longer wait.

The point I was trying to make is ICE loses a lot more power through rotational/parasitic losses then an EV drive train does.

knock on wood my wife's 2017 Escape with 115K miles on it hasn't had any issues.

This is neat All 7th-Gen Ford Mustangs Get 1965-Style Digital Gauges in Free OTA Update

They dropped the price on the Bronco Sport this year...its roughly only a $500 difference between it and the new Escape on the low end.

Drop the crack pipe FFS

Here is the thing-you need to remove the assumption that extra HP equals less range. EV motors are far more efficient/powerful then ICE counterparts..it boils down to the battery and other things for the range. If more performance is needed, they can add a motor. The Mach E Select AWD is 325HP/500Ft lbs vs Mach E GT at 480HP/600Ft lbs. The difference in range (when the Select AWD has the 91kwh battery like the Mach E GT) is only 20 miles less then the GT for a 155Hp/100 ft lbs in extra performance.

Inflation is thing-Just 20 years ago 30K plus was considered luxury brand pricing. Now that is less then the average price of a new car in the US ($47,936 as of 2023) EVERYTHING is more expensive these days and expect it to stay that way for a long time.

The Mach E and Escape are almost identical to one another in size. Mach E: 186″ L x 74″ W x 64″ H Escape: 181″ L x 74″ W x 66″ H That extra 2.5 inches on the ends isn't going to make a big difference to most buyers. But it also begs the question-what is the point of a separate Mach E platform after the next gen small EV is launched? You could potentially 5 different products on it: Bronco Sport: 173 OL Escape: 181 OL Mach E/Mustang Coupe: 186-189 OL Maverick EV: 200 OL

https://jalopnik.com/unsold-chinese-evs-are-piling-up-at-ports-1851415290 https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/chinese-ev-imports-massing-european-ports-sales-slow {paywallled)

https://fordauthority.com/2024/04/chip-shortage-skewed-early-ford-ev-demand-farley/

I think your giving shape too much credit for aerodynamics-just look at some of the older cars (that don't have the best Cd numbers) that have aerodynamic improvements from people trying to eke out MPG gains. The vast majority of them are impractical from a design or manufacturing perspective with a new car. Not to mention if easy charging (5-10% to 80% in 10-20 minutes or so) is available, overall range issues become a moot point if typical 2 box CUV gets 10-20% less range then an "ugly" sedan type vehicle.

I like it...

In all seriousness, I really wonder what Ford's plans are long term with the Bronco pricing-they seem to have based the price increases on the ADMs that where on them the first few years and has dropped since production has increased. Are they still planning on a price hike when a refresh comes about? Will demand keep softening that incentives are the norm, like they are on the Wrangler (a friend of mine got a 4XE for almost 20K off after rebates/incentives a couple months ago) currently?

No plant yet, but given how price sensitive apparently they are, the smart money says Mexico, but there are a bunch of if and buts with that. Then don't discount the reporting conflating information that is being put out. Facts at the moment: There is a skunkworks small/affordable EV being worked outside of Detroit. How small/cheap is the unknown. Louisville is supposed to get a new product in 2027 or so to replace the Escape/Corsair-what is replacing it is anyone's guess-but leaning towards an EV There is no additional plans at the moment for another Mexican assembly plant-but given how militant the UAW is going to be in the coming years, I'd say is a possibility that will happen. The Mach E is built in Cuautitlán Assembly, so it will be worth watching what Ford does with it. One of the big reasons it is built there is due to Mexico having favorable trading rights with the EU and other parts of the world. The new Explorer EV being built in the EU costs slightly more then the Mach E but I'm not 100% sure how different the are going by size etc. That would make that plant a good target to build the affordable EVs in. What is Ford's long term plans with the Mach E? One thing that might be possible is that the Mach E and the Mustang EV coupe merged together early next decade. I'd say that Louisville would be a good fit for that, if Ford decides to close Flat Rock.