Ford: Does This Ass Turn You On?

A lengthy Medium post penned by Darren Palmer, director of product development for Ford’s Team Edison, went live yesterday, no doubt at the request of Ford PR types and company brass. (It was shared on Ford’s media page.)

In it, the Ford product veteran goes on about the challenges facing his team of electric vehicle developers, mentioning, “The stakes are high.” Are they ever. With 16 fully electric vehicles on the way by 2022, joined by 24 electrified vehicles, that’s a heavy plate to carry. Despite having nearly 20 years of hybrid vehicle exposure under its belt, large swaths of the buying public remain confused by electrified powertrains (“Will my PHEV leave me stranded with an empty battery?”) and anxious about EV range. It takes time — a lot of time, apparently — to change hearts and minds. The U.S. EV take rate is less than 1 percent of new vehicle sales.

However, what created a splash on Thursday was not the revelation that building and selling EVs to the American public is hard, but the image accompanying the post.

In it, we see our first glimpse of the upcoming Mustang-inspired electric crossover that bore the name “Mach 1” before Ford quietly stopped calling it that. Due out in 2020, Ford’s aiming for a 300-mile driving range with this vehicle — a number that should quell the anxiety of most American drivers. (Technological wizard Bozi Tatarevic puts the range anxiety-beating threshold at 259 miles.)

Riding atop a platform shared by the 2019 Ford Focus you’ll never have a chance to buy and the next-generation Escape, this unnamed crossover is Ford’s opening salvo in the coming EV battle. Ford wants to dominate what it hopes anticipates will be a significant automotive segment.

While Palmer doesn’t dive into the vehicle’s specifics — it’s more of a rumination on the design process and human-centric this and that, plus the benefits of terrifying, open-concept offices — he did mention the upcoming EVs will boast an all-new infotainment system. It’s understandable Ford would want some gee-whiz tech to compliment the vehicle’s futuristic powertrain.

In a recent interview, Jim Farley, Ford’s head of global markets, said the upcoming vehicle would have “the profile of a Porsche Cayenne and the swagger of a four door Mustang.” Looking at this image, your author wonders if Ford’s courting danger by swinging too far in the Mustang direction, style-wise. Yes, it’s just a conceptual image that’s subject to change, but grafting Mustang taillights onto the clearly sleek (coupe-like?) body might be a cue too far. Surely the nose doesn’t follow the same path?

Then again, given the public’s aversion to electric vehicles, maybe this is the only way of making people who otherwise wouldn’t give two shits about an EV sit up and take notice. As we saw with the furor generated by the Mach 1 naming gambit, Mustang faithful might have a big problem with a very Mustang-inspired design. Of course, anger over another vehicle doesn’t stop Mustang owners from buying another Mustang. It might actually get a few thinking about expanding their vehicular family. Still, other Ford fans might not be too appreciative of a heritage-diluting styling gimmick.

Employing a brand-wide design language is one thing, but grafting model-specific cues onto a wholly unrelated vehicle could be taken as evidence that the company has lost its appreciation of the past, instead of the opposite.

The stakes are high, indeed.

[Image: Ford Motor Company]