Yahoo Finance Ford muscles in on Tesla with electric Mustang SUV
Ford made its big electric debut night ahead of the opening of the Los Angeles car show, presenting its new Mustang Mach-E crossover vehicle. The Mach-E will be the flagship of Ford’s electric push, an $11.5 billion investment into electric and hybrid models up until 2022, as well as a shot across the bows of electric-car leader Tesla.
The all-electric SUV will start at a tick over $44,000 for the basic version — cheaper than that for the customer after the EV subsidies are applied— and will ship in Spring 2021, according to the company.
Still sporting the pugnacious, muscular Mustang nose, the Mach-E will come in a host of different variants, delivering between 210 miles and 300 miles of range on a full charge, Ford said.
The top Mach-E GT Performance model will pack around 459 horsepower and do 0-to-60 mph in 3.5 seconds — that puts in in the same paddock as the Tesla’s upcoming Model Y crossover vehicle, which is expected to be available towards the end of next year.
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Ford chief executive Jim Hackett told Bloomberg TV that even though electric vehicles tend not to be profitable, the Mach-E crossover vehicle will make money right from the start because it taps into people’s passion for Mustangs.
In 2018, Ford announced it would stop making sedans and small cars, including the Taurus, Fusion, and Fiesta, as part of a sweeping cost-reduction plan and to focus on the lucrative and fast-growing SUV and crossover market in the US.
It has a hybrid version of its bestselling F-150 pick-up truck in the works, which is expected to be a huge hit. The pickup is expected to make its debut in 2021.
Ford said it will build the Mustang Mach-E in its plant in Mexico to begin, for capacity reasons, but says it will be able to make them in the US at a later date.
