LISTEN: Still a way to go for electric vehicles

As I wafted along the M4 Motorway through England an onto Wales in Ford’s Mustang Mach-E electric car (EV), a thought crossed my mind: if you have Tesla shares, now would be a good time to sell them.

Why? Because the Mach-E is a much better car than Elon Musk’s electrified transports? No.

It’s because once mainstream automakers like Ford start climbing on the bandwagon, then the days of the so-called pioneering Teslas will be numbered.

You can see that already happening on UK roads. There are plenty of Teslas, but also a myriad other electric cars from manufacturers like Ford, VW, Jaguar-Land Rover, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Kia and Hyundai.

These new EVs accounted for more than 16% of total car sales in the UK last year and the proportion is rising all the time.

Even though South Africa has the giant energy millstone of Eskom around our collective necks, we are not going to be a global backwater when it comes to EV uptake.

It is interesting that the Mustang Mach-E has been engineered from the start in both left and right-hand drive (RHD) versions.

Given that the major markets for RHD cars are the UK, Australia, Japan and SA, there must be a possibility that the Mach-E might end up on some Ford dealer showroom floors here – although it is not officially on Ford SA’s radar at the moment.

What is the Mach-E

So, does the Mustang Mach-E deserve the string of accolades it has won around the world?
Firstly, you need to throw off your old Mustang tinted spectacles… this car bears only a passing resemblance to the Mustang muscle car of yore.

You see it in the stylised three-bar rear lights and rear three-quarter design, as well as in the iconic galloping horse logo. But, in reality, the Mach-e is a large SUV.

The version I drove on my UK trip was the all-wheel drive and featured the “extended range” 98kWh battery. That is, effectively, the car’s fuel tank, and its electric motors push out a maximum of 258kW, which makes it a seriously quick car, capable of a sub-six second sprint to 100km/h.

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The power and the instant 580Nm of torque (electric motors produce their torque instantly) provide immense shove for even overtaking. There is an even quicker GT version, which hits 100km/h in under four seconds, making it the fastest production Mustang yet.

As you’d expect from a car priced at the equivalent of about R1.5-million, the Mach-E has all the bells and whistles – but particularly effective on a minus four degree Celsius morning in Cardiff was the ability to start the car and its heating system remotely using the FordPass app. The Mach-E’s heated windscreen liquefied the ice within minutes.

Like a Tesla, the Mach-E has a massive main info screen, which was slightly distracting at first but soon became part of the whole experience. It is one of the best I’ve tested.

On the motorway, the Mach-E produced little mechanical noise from its propulsion system, but there was noticeable road noise. Of course, being a cutting-edge vehicle, it has the option for the driver to dial in fake engine sounds… so you can pretend you’re behind the wheel of a ’67 Shelby Mustang GT350.

Charging your Electric vehicle

The downside to the experience was the hassle of charging.

Ford’s app promises a list of its own network chargers and if you’re living there permanently, you can add your credit or debit card and simply use the stations with a RFID (radio frequency identification) card.

However, Ford’s charging sites were not always accurate. One it directed us to would not accept either of our debit cards and a second, at a local college, was restricted to students and permit holders.
The ZappMap app helped a lot in offering alternatives.

While on the subject of apps, you need about eight of them to be able to fully utilise the different charging networks. Charging stations don’t often accept contactless cards, although this is changing and hopefully the rationalisation will benefit UK EV drivers as well as visitors.

Then there is the problem of not having enough fast chargers to go round. The Mach-E is able to go from 20% charge to 80% in 40 minutes – which we proved at a stop outside Chippenham, where we had hot chocolate and a nice chat to the ladies behind the counter while we waited. However, many chargers are not nearly that (150kW) powerful.

Using a 7kW outlet – the only one within a reasonable distance in Horsham – we had to leave the car overnight in a Tesco car park.

On another occasion, the Mach-e stood for six hours while a supposed 22kW charger delivered an average of 9.8kW per hour.

The more powerful the charger, the less time you waste. However, you do pay for that privilege.
Independent testers have proved that an electric car, charged at fast-charging networks on main routes, costs more to run than a petrol equivalent. And that did surprise me.

Living with car like a Mustang Mach-E, or any electric car – especially if you want to undertake long trips, even in a tech-savvy country like the UK – means plenty of planning, plenty of spare time and a chunk of “range anxiety”.

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