The Stakes Are High: Inside the Team Developing Ford’s New Generation of Electric Vehicles

[akirby]

 

I doubt Hackett believes there will be no ICEs after 2030. It's good to have a vision, and EV's (PHEV, BEV, HEV) are going to play a major part going forward. Ford will be ahead of the curve when that time comes.

 

 

Maybe your engineer friends who don't like it are the reason it didn't succeed the first time? It's not always the plan's fault that the plan doesn't succeed...it has to be implemented correctly.

 

You beat me by 30 seconds because my browser messed up. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[fordmantpw]

 

You beat me by 30 seconds because my browser messed up. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

Uh huh...should probably be using Edge then I guess, huh?

 

LOL! Even I use Chrome!

[Fordowner]

My problem is that rear shot of the Mach 1 - to me it looks like what the rear of the next Gen Mustang should look like. So I'm left to wonder what the next gen Mustang will look like. If its different enough I guess I can live with other Ford's using the tri bar. But I'm trying to remember another Ford ever using a tri bar - its one of those things that gave a Mustang its own identify - thus the reason they didn't put Ford Logos on it.

 

Re the Focus using Mustang styling cues, it thought it was the other way around - and frankly that comes out in the front end (grill/headlights) which I think is the weak point of the Current Mustang.

[Harley Lover]

 

Ford, as a whole, has long since resisted radical changes. That is one thing that has gotten them into trouble repeatedly.

 

Ford doesn't always resist change. Sometimes, change is embraced until the change agent departs (see Mulally, Allen) then "regularly scheduled programming" is resumed. Frankly, that's the more common pattern, and there's unfortunately no reason to think this time around will be any different. The entrenched folks always seem to have a way of waiting out the change at Ford.

 

The other subtext at Ford is that Finance is really running the show. That will probably never change either.

Edited September 7, 2018 by Harley Lover

[mackinaw]

 

Ford doesn't always resist change. Sometimes, change is embraced until the change agent departs (see Mulally, Allen) then "regularly scheduled programming" is resumed. Frankly, that's the more common pattern, and there's unfortunately no reason to think this time around will be any different. The entrenched folks always seem to have a way of waiting out the change at Ford.

 

You can say that about almost any organization anywhere. Management can change, but the great bureaucratic middle layer will usually forever be a constant.

[silvrsvt]

Sounds like they where doing a boring car and calling it the Model E and instead went to making something more iconic (and could charge more for) in the shape of the Mach 1.

[rmc523]

Sounds like they where doing a boring car and calling it the Model E and instead went to making something more iconic (and could charge more for) in the shape of the Mach 1.

 

You know......

 

I just realized.........maybe the silhouette will be reminiscent of the fastback mustangs, hence the Mach 1 tie-in?

[silvrsvt]

I just realized.........maybe the silhouette will be reminiscent of the fastback mustangs, hence the Mach 1 tie-in?

 

I dunno if that Shape would work well with a 4 door. Guess we will see.

[Twin Turbo]

I'm impressed JH told the designers to go back to the drawing board after seeing another generic SUV.

 

However, that just screams to me the designers went "shoot....we've only got 6 weeks to design aspirational SUV......what the heck do we do?? Oh, I know, we've already got an aspirational car in the Mustang, so we'll just steal the design cues from that!"

 

As has been mentioned above, triple red tails have only ever been used on the Mustang (at least in terms of Ford vehicles).......this just strikes me as a quick and easy to try and gain instant acceptance of its design, forgetting how Mustang nurtured those styling cues over 54 years. History be damned.

[fuzzymoomoo]

I'm impressed JH told the designers to go back to the drawing board after seeing another generic SUV.

 

However, that just screams to me the designers went "shoot....we've only got 6 weeks to design aspirational SUV......what the heck do we do?? Oh, I know, we've already got an aspirational car in the Mustang, so we'll just steal the design cues from that!"

 

As has been mentioned above, triple red tails have only ever been used on the Mustang (at least in terms of Ford vehicles).......this just strikes me as a quick and easy to try and gain instant acceptance of its design, forgetting how Mustang nurtured those styling cues over 54 years. History be damned.

I talked to a friend of mine a few months ago who saw the clay model. He said it actually looked really cool but his opinion was the Mustang tail lights was kind of a mistake.

[silvrsvt]

I talked to a friend of mine a few months ago who saw the clay model. He said it actually looked really cool but his opinion was the Mustang tail lights was kind of a mistake.

 

I just hope Ford doesn't go down the path of X product was inspired by the Mustang like Chevy did with the Camaro and or Vette.

[T-dubz]

Im probably the only one to think this, but Ive always thought the rear end of the mustang has been its weak spot from 2005 on and dont know why youd want to copy that on another car.

 

Ford is missing an opportunity here. Electric vehicles are about the future, not the past. Lets not bring old design elements into a futuristic product. Design something new that lets people know thats a Mach 1 or whatever they are going to call it driving down the street.

[jpd80]

Im probably the only one to think this, but Ive always thought the rear end of the mustang has been its weak spot from 2005 on and dont know why youd want to copy that on another car.

 

Ford is missing an opportunity here. Electric vehicles are about the future, not the past. Lets not bring old design elements into a futuristic product. Design something new that lets people know thats a Mach 1 or whatever they are going to call it driving down the street.

But they have to because so much of this hinges on transitioning existing buyers to these new products.

Not providing some visual familiarity leaves them open to being lost in a sea of competitor offerings

[fuzzymoomoo]

But they have to because so much of this hinges on transitioning existing buyers to these new products.

Not providing some visual familiarity leaves them open to being lost in a sea of competitor offerings

I think it could go either way, but I agree with Ford, familiar is probably the safe bet.

[mackinaw]

Ford is missing an opportunity here. Electric vehicles are about the future, not the past. Lets not bring old design elements into a futuristic product. Design something new that lets people know thats a Mach 1 or whatever they are going to call it driving down the street.

 

 

Did you read the Forbes article? The original Mach 1 was a casper milquetoast vehicle that had absolutely no personality. Hackett told the stylists to start over and to be bold and different. Fuzzy's contact verifies that the new vehicle looks cool.

[silvrsvt]

I just had a thought-Ford has renewed the trademark for Maverick-Why not use that name on the "Mach 1" BEV instead?

 

The name seems like a great fit for a BEV and has ties to the Mustang in the grand scheme of things

Maverick:

1 : an unbranded range animal; especially : a motherless calf

2 : an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party

 

That just leaves what do you call the small C CUV

[rmc523]

I just had a thought-Ford has renewed the trademark for Maverick-Why not use that name on the "Mach 1" BEV instead?

 

The name seems like a great fit for a BEV and has ties to the Mustang in the grand scheme of things

 

Maverick:

 

1 : an unbranded range animal; especially : a motherless calf

2 : an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party

 

That just leaves what do you call the small C CUV

 

Ha! I actually like that ideal

[twintornados]

...That just leaves what do you call the small C CUV

.

Pinto?

[Trailhiker]

Stallion? is that already taken?

[Assimilator]

I think Ford is more in-love with the Mustang than most of its audience. I'm a Ford fan but I have never fetishized the Mustang, to me that's a separate sub-brand and I generally dislike nostalgia which is what the Mustang has always represented to me. It also wasn't that long ago when Mustang was a downright archaic piece of retro engineering unmotivated by competition.

 

The current generation of Mustang FINALLY brought it into the modern era however (thanks Camaro!) and they are giving it the right attention to make it desirable to my generation and younger. That's why I wonder if using Mustang as the basis for a new-age electric car is a doubled edged sword. But again, Mustang has an EV story to tell soon. They really had to fix Mustang to use it's visual identity and I think they have at this point.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Assimilator

[silvrsvt]

I think Ford is more in-love with the Mustang than most of its audience. I'm a Ford fan but I have never fetishized the Mustang, to me that's a separate sub-brand and I generally dislike nostalgia which is what the Mustang has always represented to me.

Thankfully the vast majority of buyers arent like you then.

[bzcat]

I'm not saying MACH 1 will look just like this but Audi is working on the e-Tron Sportback that is kind of the same idea. And we know Ford and VW like to copy each other...

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2018 by bzcat

[T-dubz]

That sillouette actually looks pretty good. Much better than the bmw or Mercedes.

[92merc]

I've always liked the Audi car profiles. I think they always look sleek and modern. Not a fan of their Q series though. Long noses, straight waistline. Too wagon looking for my tastes.

[rmc523]

I've always liked the Audi car profiles. I think they always look sleek and modern. Not a fan of their Q series though. Long noses, straight waistline. Too wagon looking for my tastes.

 

The newer "squared" Q's look much more wagon-like than their more soft/rounded predecessors - it was a step back, design wise, for me.....but I think they did a better job with the Q5 than the Q7. Q8 to me looks too brute-ish to be a top end model.