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I can't help but feel like they are selling out here. It seems like they wanted to combine the excellent brand recognition of "Mustang" with the staggering sal

I can't help but feel like they are selling out here. It seems like they wanted to combine the excellent brand recognition of "Mustang" with the staggering sales figures of SUVs. Although they might get a semi-pass here, because the nature of electric cars really lends itself to SUV's, allowing bigger battery packs while also keeping weight way down low along with the motor(s). An electric SUV will handle much much better than it's gas counterpart because of this. So I would give this a fair shot of actually being a good car, with many more mustang like qualities than would be expected. However part of me really does still feel like Ford should have just called this something else, and released an electric pure sports car mustang later on. I would imagine that Ford went back and forth with the "Mustang" branding a lot before settling on it.

lallysingh 7y ago
It's a sports car brand that's got 1-2 generations (really, barely 1) from being completely obsolete. There's very little margin, and gas isn't getting any cheaper. They're in some sense rescuing the brand by separating it from the vehicle. Remember that Ford killed off all other sedans for North America.
- dragontamer 7y ago
  > There's very little margin, and gas isn't getting any cheaper. * Barrel of Oil in 2009: $53.48 (Not yet adjusted for inflation) * Barrel of Oil in 2019: $46.25 I think you're underestimating how much oil we discovered through the fracking process. There's a reason why SUVs went out-of-favor in the 2007 era (~$90+ per barrels of oil), but SUVs + Trucks became popular again come 2015+. Gasoline got way, way cheaper. > Remember that Ford killed off all other sedans for North America. Because gasoline has gotten so cheap, people have stopped caring about MPG-efficiency. SUVs are selling out while cheap econo-boxes are losing money. The current trend is big, boxy SUVs with lots of room. Very few people seem to care about efficiency these days.
  - newnewpdro 7y ago
    > I think you're underestimating how much oil we discovered through the fracking process. I thought the primary output of fracking in the US is natural gas, not oil.
    - salty_biscuits 7y ago
      They are probably getting mixed up with shale oil, which isn't price competitive at the moment. Geopolitics has more of an influence on the current oil price.
    - dragontamer 7y ago
      Fracking Oil Wells are estimated to become profitable again at $60 / barrel (depending on the well of course, but roughly around there). Which means that for the foreseeable future... ie: as long as Fracking Oil wells remain in a state of "DUC and cover" (drilled but uncompleted)... oil will likely remain under $60 a barrel. Only if global oil consumption grows enough such that all the DUC-and-covered wells become operational will the market be in a position where the price of oil can grow significantly above $60/barrel. Either way, the $90+/barrel prices of the 2007-era probably won't return anytime soon.
      - aussiegreenie 7y ago
        BTW - Fracking has NEVER been profitable. It is just the losers are the debt holding in companies. And for the same reasons, VCs keep subsidising lost making companies (WeWork / Lyft etc). "We lose money on every sale but we make it up on volume" Bondholders have lost about a hundred Billion. It is crazy but frackers keep get capital effectively for free.
- bryanlarsen 7y ago
  > gas isn't getting any cheaper. On the contrary, cheap gas is here to stay. At $60/bbl or so, fracking and tar sands/shale oil become profitable and those huge reserves come into play keeping a cap on the price. Technological change and/or pipelines can and likely will reduce that $60 cap. Also, wind energy is becoming insanely cheap. That can't replace much oil usage, but it does replace it at the margins, and it's the margins that affect the price. The only thing that will raise the price of gas is a carbon tax or equivalent, and we're not going to get that without a change of administration.
  - m463 7y ago
    In respect to the car, I would argue about a clean car with low maintenance, and not about gas prices. That said, gas will probably be 3x the price as electric for this car. ---- I got curious and did the math: electric 270 miles range from 93 kw @ 12c/kwh = $11.16 ford edge 21mpg @ 3.00/gal = $38.57 for 270 miles ford edge 25mpg @ 3.00/gal = $32.40 for 270 miles

lallysingh 7y ago

It's a sports car brand that's got 1-2 generations (really, barely 1) from being completely obsolete. There's very little margin, and gas isn't getting any cheaper. They're in some sense rescuing the brand by separating it from the vehicle. Remember that Ford killed off all other sedans for North America.

dragontamer 7y ago
> There's very little margin, and gas isn't getting any cheaper. * Barrel of Oil in 2009: $53.48 (Not yet adjusted for inflation) * Barrel of Oil in 2019: $46.25 I think you're underestimating how much oil we discovered through the fracking process. There's a reason why SUVs went out-of-favor in the 2007 era (~$90+ per barrels of oil), but SUVs + Trucks became popular again come 2015+. Gasoline got way, way cheaper. > Remember that Ford killed off all other sedans for North America. Because gasoline has gotten so cheap, people have stopped caring about MPG-efficiency. SUVs are selling out while cheap econo-boxes are losing money. The current trend is big, boxy SUVs with lots of room. Very few people seem to care about efficiency these days.
- newnewpdro 7y ago
  > I think you're underestimating how much oil we discovered through the fracking process. I thought the primary output of fracking in the US is natural gas, not oil.
  - salty_biscuits 7y ago
    They are probably getting mixed up with shale oil, which isn't price competitive at the moment. Geopolitics has more of an influence on the current oil price.
  - dragontamer 7y ago
    Fracking Oil Wells are estimated to become profitable again at $60 / barrel (depending on the well of course, but roughly around there). Which means that for the foreseeable future... ie: as long as Fracking Oil wells remain in a state of "DUC and cover" (drilled but uncompleted)... oil will likely remain under $60 a barrel. Only if global oil consumption grows enough such that all the DUC-and-covered wells become operational will the market be in a position where the price of oil can grow significantly above $60/barrel. Either way, the $90+/barrel prices of the 2007-era probably won't return anytime soon.
    - aussiegreenie 7y ago
      BTW - Fracking has NEVER been profitable. It is just the losers are the debt holding in companies. And for the same reasons, VCs keep subsidising lost making companies (WeWork / Lyft etc). "We lose money on every sale but we make it up on volume" Bondholders have lost about a hundred Billion. It is crazy but frackers keep get capital effectively for free.
bryanlarsen 7y ago
> gas isn't getting any cheaper. On the contrary, cheap gas is here to stay. At $60/bbl or so, fracking and tar sands/shale oil become profitable and those huge reserves come into play keeping a cap on the price. Technological change and/or pipelines can and likely will reduce that $60 cap. Also, wind energy is becoming insanely cheap. That can't replace much oil usage, but it does replace it at the margins, and it's the margins that affect the price. The only thing that will raise the price of gas is a carbon tax or equivalent, and we're not going to get that without a change of administration.
- m463 7y ago
  In respect to the car, I would argue about a clean car with low maintenance, and not about gas prices. That said, gas will probably be 3x the price as electric for this car. ---- I got curious and did the math: electric 270 miles range from 93 kw @ 12c/kwh = $11.16 ford edge 21mpg @ 3.00/gal = $38.57 for 270 miles ford edge 25mpg @ 3.00/gal = $32.40 for 270 miles