Sam Krahn 
To those that scoffed at Ford applying the Mustang name to an electric SUV, the Mustang Mach-E may have just sold out. The forum MachEClub has been keeping track of the pre-order reservation numbers of its members. This week, a forum member claimed they are preorder no. 50,002. Ford said they will make 50,000 Mach-E electric utility vehicles for the first production year, showing they have hit their target.
Ford hasn’t officially sold 50,002 units of the Mustang Mach-E, though. So far, perspective customers have been able to preorder a car with a fully refundable $500 deposit. This means will probably be customers that pull their deposit when the time comes to actually purchase the car.
In other words, call it a “theoretical” selling out.
It also looks like Ford doesn’t want to stop people from putting in orders, probably because they know some people will pull out. On Ford’s website, you can still configure, reserve and place a deposit on a Mustang Mach-E. Ford could also bump orders for the Mach-E that are over the 50,000 mark to the next model year. Chevrolet is doing similar things with the 2020 Corvette Stingray.
Production for the Mustang Mach-E will begin in fall 2020. This is assuming Coronavirus doesn’t delay it. When customers do get their cars at the end of 2020, they will receive Ford’s first real entry into the EV market. It’s probably best we skip over the Focus Electric and its 115 miles of range.
The Mustang Mach-E has had its fair share of controversy. It’s understandable, as it applies the muscle car name to such an overtly different concept than a muscle car. But it does show Ford has the intentions to make (at least some of) their electric cars fun to drive. Ford also can’t ignore the growing hype for electric vehicles, and it sure got attention with the Mach-E, positive or not.
Purists need to realize that the Mustang Mach-E can otherwise be perceived as an olive branch to anti-ICE legislators that seek to eventually wipe out the V8 engine as we know it. Seeing as it’s a “Mustang,” the Mach-E should in effect help balance out the Mustang’s fuel economy average that it’s forced to adhere to both here and abroad. Given the circumstances, we should all wish for the success of the Mustang Mach-E. It might mean that the horsepower wars will continue to last.
The Mach-E will have some Mustang worthy performance, in a straight line at least. Ford claims the range topping GT model will go 0-60 in the “mid 3-second range”. Hardly a slouch for a grocery getter, but fast acceleration is expected with EVs. We just hope Ford can translate some of the Mustang emotion factor into the SUV, because EVs are all too often a bit of a one trick pony.
