After a week with the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E, I’ve come to the conclusion there is really only one big challenge to EV adoption that nobody is addressing, and no, I’m not talking about talking it running out of charging options in Nebraska, or during an EV road trip in the Outback of Australia. Is it the amount of fast chargers? Nope. Is it range anxiety? Nope. Is it EVs must have a certain range? Nope.
I see the problem as simply about change. People hate change.
Change?
Let’s start with this example. I drove to the Denver airport, which is about a 3-hour trip for me or, in EV thinking, 188 miles since miles matter more than time.
Driving to the airport I made a change. I decided to leave just a few minutes early, and I made the change to stop for 10 mins for a quick charge. Could I make it without the charge? Yup.
However, a few days before, I found an amazing place to stop with an EV that had the Level 3 charging people are demanding. This is the one that is 480 volts and adds a hundred miles of range in 15 minutes. Not the 100v that you plug in and come back in a few days or the 220v I have at home, which charges a battery overnight.
Now, unlike a lot of the current charging stations found behind a building, in the corner of someplace you don’t want to be or next to a store you could care less about, this charger is next to (gasp!) a gas station. Yup, I stopped next to all the gas-powered vehicles and charged the Mach-E while hitting the restroom and buying a snack.
Walking back to the SUV just 15 minutes later, I had another 100 miles of range. This was more than enough to drive to the airport parking garage, which would charge the Mach-E while I was gone. This means I could fly back in, and voila, I have a full battery to get me home.
Change sucks, not public charging?
The fact is until you experience an EV, you’ll throw up a bazillion reasons why it doesn’t work for you. Trust me. I’ve heard it from everyone. And I’ve made them myself.
People immediately have a reaction to EVs and want to share why Biden is an idiot and this will never work. Driving an EV is like choosing sides in a civil war for many people. It’s such a divisive vehicle.
At the end of the day, it is just a vehicle with a different propulsion system. That’s it. It is just different and requires a change in how you travel. Change is hard.
Ford Mustang Mach-E real shortcomings
Fine, I found a great charger and, yes, people hate change, what about the rest of the Ford Mustang Mach-E?
Well, in short, the rest just works. It rides well, handles well, has plenty of room like you’ll see in the video below when I maxed it out with people and golf clubs.
The technology, though, can be a little funky.
For example, on another trip, I put my destination as my house and the Mach-E wanted me to do a U-turn in my driveway to go to a charging station for 40 minutes to then drive back. If I didn’t I wouldn’t “make it” home. Yeah, that is not right.
Another issue that came up was road construction. Again, the navigation system couldn’t figure out I wasn’t on a service road on I-25 when I was driving to Denver. Ignoring the multiple warnings to turn around is easy by hitting the mute button, but still, some work needs to be done there.
Finally, the bigger issue is the price changes. Right now, I priced it out as $58,000 on Ford’s website, while the sales sticker I got said $68,000. These large fluctuations in price means consumers are either wise to wait it out or, if they take the plunge, they need to understand their resale value might drop quite a bit when an automaker lowers the price on a new model.
Oh and there’s the range drop in the winter, lack of infrastructure, understanding what chargers are operating and at what speeds, etc. Those still have to be worked out.
The bottom line
Driving an EV is simply different. You have to flip your mindset around owning one and do more planning. It isn’t that hard, really I live in the middle of nowhere, and I can do it, so you can, too.
When you look past the politics, the promises of environmental benefits, which don’t really add up, and the stigmatism around them, they are ideal vehicles for commuting, some road trips and occasional drivers, who hate maintenance and gas stations.
They just aren’t ready to replace gas vehicles for everyone. That’s OK. Diesel and gas will be around for years and years. I know they won’t replace my needs for a truck, for example, and I’m OK with that. Will they someday? Maybe. But for now, they are good for a lot more drivers than people realize.
