MachE Loaner Review

Grum.Man

Grum.Man

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Grum.Man
Since @Mtns2Skies thread got shut down I'll stir the pot again. Took my Lincoln Corsair in to finally get a recall fixed. They gave me a MachE GT all wheel drive as a loaner. I assume this is part of their directive to push EV's out to boost sales. I've said many times I am not an EV guy, at least not yet. I live in a rural area and frequently drive distances that would be stretching the current range of most main stream brands. I also do not have an attached garage and don't really want a charging station mounted on the outside of my house. That said I certainly see the benefits and would consider one some day if the range approached 4-500 miles and the prices came down. The dealer gave it to me with only 75% charge. For someone new to EV's with no home charging set up, I had to cancel a few things I had planned to do in fear of depleting the charge too much to return it to the dealer. Not a good move if they are trying to get people into EV's.

Likes:
Really good ride quality and quite.
B&O stereo is fantastic
Looks better in person
Seats are comfortable and good driving position. Plenty of room.
Big screen is nice but almost too big.
Way quicker than it really needs to be.
One pedal driving is awesome once you get used to it, there is a catch though. If you need to use the brake, the transition from off brake to accelerator isn't smooth.
The transmission tuning on my Lincoln is horribly slow so in this case it's nice not having gears. In my GM products I don't mind as much.

Dislikes:
The way you open the door is stupid and annoying. Just give me a handle.
The center screen is at an angle I don't like. I wish it was canted toward the driver and tilted back a little.
Hate having climate controls in the touch screen.
The screen is fairly responsive but there is just enough lag that you aren't sure you got the command you were after leading to a double tap.
Sticker price was 65k. I'm sorry but this is not a 65k vehicle.

Neutral:
Interior is adequate at best. It has a nice mix of materials but the "leather" doesn't feel nice. There is a plastic piece on the dash that has a chinzy design to it. The plastic texture patterns are all over the place.
My Corsair has the same lane centering but only requires you keep you hand on the wheel. It's not capacitive touch so you have to hang from it a bit to let you know you are there. The MachE adds an attention monitor in addition to the steering wheel hold. I know you should pay attention regardless but the redundancy is kind of annoying. Other companies have one or the other, not both.
If you are going to have a glass roof I'd prefer it to open. If not just give me a solid roof.

Overall it's a nice car and if my situation was slightly different I could see my self owning one. It's not an enthusiast car by any means. The rush of acceleration wears off eventually and you miss the sounds of an engine and the feel of a transmission. If it were 45k I would be much more tempted.
 
No disagreement with anything you mentioned.

You absolutely need a home L2 charger for an EV to make sense. Also agree on price... which is why I went used and got a wild discount on it. These things are depreciating like crazy.
 
Bob Noel said:
but not what comes to mind with "Mustang"
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true. I just mean regardless of ICE or EV, the car is ok looking. not something I'd seek out but in general it, well, looks like a car.
 
Bob Noel said:
but not what comes to mind with "Mustang"
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I think that is EVERYONE's problem with it. It could have been called the Mach-E and no one would have batted an eye. They would have said, "it's a decent-looking crossover EV". However, the minute they attached the Mustang brand/decals onto it, it caused cognitive dissonance with every person who loved or was at least moderately-familiar with what a Mustang is, historically. Just a terrible move on Ford's part. If the product wasn't good enough to stand on its own, don't dilute the Mustang reputation by associating the two. /rant
 
Grum.Man said:
The dealer gave it to me with only 75% charge. For someone new to EV's with no home charging set up, I had to cancel a few things I had planned to do in fear of depleting the charge too much to return it to the dealer.
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Was there not a mobile connector in the trunk? You could have plugged into your outside outlet and added 3 to 4 miles per hour of charging. It's pretty slow, but it adds up when it's plugged in while your at home in the evening and overnight.

The Mach E is a solid EV but you found many of its shortcomings. There are other models that are stronger in many of the areas that you mentioned.

Mtns2Skies said:
which is why I went used and got a wild discount on it. These things are depreciating like crazy.
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That's a mixed bag. They are depreciating so quickly because the price of new EVs have been dropping fairly quickly. Bad for current owners but good for those in the market for one.
 
Larry in TN said:
Was there not a mobile connector in the trunk? You could have plugged into your outside outlet and added 3 to 4 miles per hour of charging. It's pretty slow, but it adds up when it's plugged in while your at home in the evening and overnight.

The Mach E is a solid EV but you found many of its shortcomings. There are other models that are stronger in many of the areas that you mentioned.


That's a mixed bag. They are depreciating so quickly because the price of new EVs have been dropping fairly quickly. Bad for current owners but good for those in the market for one.
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Well, that, and the fact that EV sales have tanked quite a bit for just about every EV brand/model. Sales prices being lowered on everything to try and keep some volume moving. Lucid just dropped their prices a good bit on just about every model, but they may be circling the bankruptcy drain unless their Saudi backers bail them out. Lucid does have one of the sharpest-looking EV sedans, imo, and fairly impressive range.
 
Larry in TN said:
Was there not a mobile connector in the trunk? You could have plugged into your outside outlet and added 3 to 4 miles per hour of charging. It's pretty slow, but it adds up when it's plugged in while your at home in the evening and overnight.

The Mach E is a solid EV but you found many of its shortcomings. There are other models that are stronger in many of the areas that you mentioned.


That's a mixed bag. They are depreciating so quickly because the price of new EVs have been dropping fairly quickly. Bad for current owners but good for those in the market for one.
Click to expand...
Only connector in the trunk is a 50 amp style plug
 
Bob Noel said:
Thread drift:

Do you like the Corsair?
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Mixed emotions. Full disclosure I've always been a GM guy so a lot of my feelings are based on the way my vehicles have always been. I got the Corsair because of value and it checked all the boxes. Nothing worth getting rid of it over but enough to where I probably wouldn't get it again. I was only interested in compact crossovers for mpg purposes and ease of use. The main competition for me was the Q3, X3, XT5, and GLC. Didn't love the look of the Lexus what ever it is, and really didn't consider Volvo. Q3 lost out because it lacks a lot of features that should be in a luxury car like cooled seats. Primarily passed on the X3 because well, BMW and the need for premium gas. The GLC's in my price range were getting a little long in the tooth as the refreshed model had just came out. I really liked the Cadillac but it was a little too familiar with my other GM cars. The main reason I went with the Corsair and still stand by it is because it has hands down the nicest interior in the class and the best ride quality. It also has every bell and whistle, gets good mpg, takes regular gas, and is a reliable brand. The stereo is also awesome. I don't use voice commands often but this car does a better job than any other one I've been in. The lane keep and radar cruise also works much better than my GM vehicles.

The bads are all common ford complaints. Inconsistent panel gaps, poorly fitted panels, interior creaks and rattles. Transmission is painfully slow shifting. And for some reason the rubbers and black plastics on Ford's seem to weather much more quickly than other brands I have owned. Then there are things that are just baked into the way they program their cars compared to how I have gotten used to on GM. The gas pedal isn't as linear, the brakes are difficult to modulate, and the climate control is slow to respond. All things I have gotten used to and don't bother me much anymore. There are some usability complaints like how the wireless charger is inside the center console. The usb cable for carplay is under a sliding cover in a compartment with a light in it. There is no slot for the cord to pass through so you have to close the lid on the cord or the light shines in your eye at night. The cubby is also too small for the phone to fit inside of with the cord attached.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Well, that, and the fact that EV sales have tanked quite a bit for just about every EV brand/model.
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I think that most people reading that sales "tanked" would assume that EV sales decreased significantly. What actually happened was the rate of growth was less than in previous periods.

EV sales are still growth at double-digit rates. Most manufacturer's saw growth over 20% YoY in 2023 with a record 1.2 Million EVs being sold in the US in 2023. 4Q23 US EV sales set a record both for volume and for market share at 8.1%--over half of that Teslas.

In 2023, the Tesla Model Y was not only the best selling EV but became the best selling vehicle in the world.

All of this while interest rates increased significantly, decreasing the price of the car a person could buy for the monthly payment they can afford.

The legacy auto makers are having a tough time catching up to Tesla. It looks like Teslas lead, from introducing the Model S in 2012 and Model 3 in 2017, will keep it ahead for some time to come.

Grum.Man said:
Only connector in the trunk is a 50 amp style plug
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That's not very helpful, unless you happen to be an RV owner who already has a 14-50 outlet at your house.

Tesla's mobile connector (EVSE) comes with both the 14-50 plug and the 5-15, which is the standard household 120v outlet. I've seen other manufacturers who's car come with an EVSE that is only 5-15. If that's what Ford is providing, it makes sense for owners but not for loaners or rentals.
 
Larry in TN said:
Tesla's mobile connector (EVSE) comes with both the 14-50 plug and the 5-15, which is the standard household 120v outlet. I've seen other manufacturers who's car come with an EVSE that is only 5-15. If that's what Ford is providing, it makes sense for owners but not for loaners or rerentals
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The Ford one has both. It has two separate dongles you plug into the unit to change the outlet. @Grum.Man either didn't see it or it was missing.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
The Ford one has both. It has two separate dongles you plug into the unit to change the outlet. @Grum.Man either didn't see it or it was missing.
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Thanks. That's good to know. Definitely a better design to have the swappable dongles.

A 5-20 dongle is also good to have. That is the standard 20A/120V receptable that is now code for garages. My cars bumps from 4mph to 7 mph going from 15A to 20A. Makes a big difference when limited to Level 1 charging.

Not sure when the code changed but my 22yr old house has 20A outlets in the garage.
 
SoonerAviator said:
I think that is EVERYONE's problem with it. It could have been called the Mach-E and no one would have batted an eye. They would have said, "it's a decent-looking crossover EV". However, the minute they attached the Mustang brand/decals onto it, it caused cognitive dissonance with every person who loved or was at least moderately-familiar with what a Mustang is, historically. Just a terrible move on Ford's part. If the product wasn't good enough to stand on its own, don't dilute the Mustang reputation by associating the two. /rant
Click to expand...

Well, they could have made it a four door ... :eek:
 
Grum.Man said:
The cubby is also too small for the phone to fit inside of with the cord attached.
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That would be the deal breaker for me. That sort of nonsense annoys me. My old BMW had a cordless cell phone charger that was fed a/c to keep the armrest cubby and the phone cool. Unfortunately, my phone did not fit inside.

Lame.
 
Rich Holt said:
That would be the deal breaker for me. That sort of nonsense annoys me. My old BMW had a cordless cell phone charger that was fed a/c to keep the armrest cubby and the phone cool. Unfortunately, my phone did not fit inside.

Lame.
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Some of that could be a result of phones getting enormous since the design was made lol. Many GM vehicles have a wireless charger in the center armrest/console lid. However they weren't wide enough for many phones, especially if a protective case was installed.
 
Zeldman said:
Serious question.

Does this mean the original owners aren't liking something about their EV as much as they thought they would, or some other reason.??
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Prices were high in 2020/2021 due to being supply constrained (factories) and the supply chain issues at that time. Since then, factories have been completed/expanded, the supply chain restrictions have eased, and production has ramped up. Manufactures, led by Tesla, cut prices. Tesla did it because they could, as they increased production, and other manufacturers had to because of Tesla's cuts. That widened their losses on EV programs that have not yet matured and reached profitability.

My 29 month-old Tesla cost $3,000 more, in July of 2021, than a comparable model costs today. Not only that but the model available today is better as quite a few hardware improvements were made with the recent new generation of the Model 3. The prices continued to climb, after I ordered, before the cuts began.

This hit Hertz pretty hard as they bought their 100,000 Tesla fleet when the prices were near the top and Tesla did not offer them fleet pricing. As a business, they've had to book the depreciation losses as they occurred which made their fleet very expensive.
 
Now that the loaner has been returned I will say one huge benefit I imagine applies to all EV’s is the low center of gravity. Even when driven normally you can tell in how the suspension behaves. It’s like having a sailboat keel. Every bump translates as a vertical motion instead of the side to side head tossing I’m used to in normal cars. Interesting feeling and definitely a plus.
 
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