During a quarterly earnings call last week, Ford CEO Jim Farley revealed that the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUV will receive continual incremental updates instead of the “industry standard mid-cycle refresh.”
The mid-cycle refresh has become commonplace across the automotive industry, in large part due to the logistical convenience of timing updates at the midway point between redesigns. But in Ford’s case, Farley explains that there are a number of potential changes that offer significant profit opportunities if rolled out sooner, rather than later.
Ford Mustang Mach-E
“If I showed you our cooling system for Mach-E, it has four motors, probably needs to be two. It has 60 or 70 hoses, probably needs to be one third of that. And those are the opportunities we’re going after,” shared Farley. “And we are not going to wait for next year. We’re not going to wait for a minor change. We are going to reengineer that vehicle now and then use that expertise for Lightning, E-Transit and of course our all electric platforms.”
Read more: Revealing a fast future with the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT
This coincides with insights provided by Mustang Mach-E chief engineer Donna Dickson earlier last year, when she noted that the “two-motor coolant pump was one of several hardware changes she mentioned aimed at reducing weight and improving range.” Dickson shared that Ford is aiming for “year-over-year improvement” in range through the 2024 model year and, so far, the 2022 Mach-E has achieved a maximum range of more than 500 km. This is a marked improvement from the 2021 model, which had a range of 490 km.
Ford also plans to triple Mach-E production by 2023, alongside increased production plans for the highly anticipated F-150 Lightning and a “a next-generation full-size electric truck with incredibly high volume based on a new platform.”
