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Ford’s new all-electric SUV, the Mustang Mach-E, will feature over-the-air software updates allowing it to literally get better with time. Almost all the vehicle’s modules can be accessed through a cloud-based platform
allowing Ford to deliver performance enhancements and even entirely new features which might not exist when customers first take delivery of their vehicles.

Ford has also quoted charging times based on real-world testing which improve upon the projected figures it had previously been working with. These suggest that versions of the Mach-E with all-wheel drive and the extended-range battery option will be able to gain 66 miles of range in ten minutes when using an Ionity fast-charging station.

Ford expects to be delivering its initial over-the-air updates around six months after the first Mach-E customers take delivery of their vehicles. This in turn is expected to happen just in time for Christmas; said customers will have paid from £46,750 for a model with all-wheel drive.

After teasing it plenty recently, Ford have pulled the covers off the Mustang Mach-E – their all-new, coupe inspired, all-electric SUV that is as much of an homage as it is a leap towards the future.

The Mach-E takes subtle styling cues from the all-American coupe, but is still very much an SUV, available in rear-wheel drive with a single motor, or four-wheel drive with one for each axle and two different batteries on offer.

Most frugal among the array of choices is the rear-wheel drive model with the extended-range battery, which on WLTP testing can achieve 370-miles on a full charge. The setup with  the extended-range battery with four-wheel drive is targeting 332bhp and 393lbf.ft, whilst the more performance focused Mach-E GT model is aiming for 0-60 in less than five seconds, using 459bhp and 612lbf.ft. With those figures, the target seems well within reach.

Each Mach-E will come with three driving modes to alter the vehicle’s on-road dynamics – Whisper, Engage and Unbridled. These will tailor the steering response, ambient lighting and sounds, too. The driver’s information displays will also be animated differently depending on the driving mode selected.

Four-wheel drive models will come with a 4 all-wheel drive system, which applies torque to the front and rear axles independently as required. ford tested the system in both wet and snowy terrains to ensure the level of stability it provides.

You’ll be able to fit your Mach-E with Brembo Flexira callipers, which are made of aluminium and offer the benefits of a fixed calliper whilst boasting the dimensions of a floating counterpart. On the Mach-E Gt, there will also be MagneRide adaptive suspension, which is said to keep the car pliant to the road in a ride that is both enjoyably sporty and comfortable.

One of the biggest new additions to Ford’s first all-electric model is found in the interior. Much like Tesla dashboards, the Mach-E’s is dominated by a sizeable tablet running the next-generation of Ford’s SYNC infotainment system. Able to accept over the air updates, the new system will evolve and get better over time. It uses double the computing power of SYNC 3, and has wireless compatibility with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and AppLink apps from multiple smartphones and mobile devices.

Built on an all-new architecture, the batteries are housed in the underbody, meaning that there is room for five inside along with luggage space both front and back. Under the hood, which the headlights suggest there would be a throaty V8, there is a 100-litre storage space – which can be drained out. More traditional rear stowage space stands at 420-litres with a full cohort of seating with 1,420 on offer when the rear bench is flat.

The interior is more modern and sleek, with optional speakers floating above the dash like a sound bar and a floating central armrest, but the traditional Mustang double-cowl instrument panel remains in place. There’s a panoramic roof overhead, with a special infrared coating to help keep temperatures down in the summer and warmer in the winter, whilst there is also a layer to protect against UV rays.

Mach-E owners will be able to use their phone as a key, with the accompanying app. You’ll have noticed a lack of door handles, and that’s to help with aerodynamics and increase range. The doors are opened with either a press of a button, or by entering a pin on the keypad on the B-pillar followed by a separate pin on the touchscreen to start the vehicle if your phone is flat.

On the topic of batteries, the Mustang Mach-E will use a 75.5kWh lithium ion battery in standard-range models, with a 98.8kWh version in extended-range guise. These packs comprise of 288 and 376 lithium-ion cells respectively, and are protected by waterproofing and crash protection, with temperatures regulated by an active liquid cooling system.

Ford are offering a Connected Wallbox for the Mach-E, so in comparison to usual domestic sockets, your electric Mustang will be gaining up to 38-miles of charge more per hour – the Ford Home Charge Cable alone will only offer 9-miles. The onboard navigation will also suggest the most logical points on a journey to stop and charge, which at its 150kW charging capacity, the extended-range, all-wheel drive model can add 57-miles within ten minutes. In the standard model, the Mach-E is said to go from 10 to 80% in 38-minutes using a DC fast-charging station.

The Mustang Mach-E is the first all-electric Ford, and it is also the first of 14 electrified models the marque will be putting to market by the end fo 2020. With IONITY, Ford will also be installing 400 charging stations across Europe in the same timeframe.

Initially, the idea of a Mustang SUV is very jarring, however, it doesn’t sound bad at all, does it? Now it just remains to see whether it can hold its own against the plethora of coupe SUVs on the market.

The American EV brand has launched its second SUV, the mid-sized Model Y, that, despite sitting beneath the Model X, will be a seven seater.

It will be available with four different battery packs – Standard Range, Long Range, Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive and Performance variants. The standard battery will have a range of 230-miles, but that figure swells to 300 with the long range version, and the peppiest power pack can hit 60mph in 3.5seconds and head on to 150mph.

Total stowage, including the front trunk and with the second row of seats folded down, comes in at 1,900 litres, and like the Model 3 hatch, the Y is compatible with compatible with Tesla superchargers and the new V3 superchargers – which can charge up to 1,000 miles per hour. Rather than keys, again like the 3 it connects to a smartphone not only to unlock it but for several other controls.

There’s no details of when the Model Y will come to Europe, and given the delays in Model 3 production it’s tricky to predict, but all but Standard Range models are expected by next autumn, with the entry $39,000 Standard Range Model Y coming later in spring of 2021.