Ford has unveiled a new app feature for its upcoming Mustang Mach-E that will save you the hassle of setting up navigation, climate control, charging stations and other personal settings once it’s delivered. “Remote Vehicle Setup,” will instead let you pre-configure vehicle settings from home and save them in the cloud, then apply them once the car arrives.

According to a video supplied by Ford, you first enter the FordPass app and create a profile with your address. From there, it finds charging stations nearby and lets you select them from a map, or you can program one manually if it doesn’t appear. Then you can set times and days that you usually depart, program your ideal cabin temperature (cool, medium or warm) and select the type of drive performance (“engage,” “unbridled” or “whisper”).

Ford’s all-electric Mustang Mach-E hasn’t rolled out yet, but someone is working on a special one-off, judging by a video posted to YouTube a few days ago. As noted by Autoblog and Jalopnik, this stripped down machine is obviously a Mach-E, but with body panels removed in the front and rear, seemingly to make room for extra cooling and suspension bits as well as extremely thick tires.

It needs those, because the video — posted by a user who only goes by “Carolina Guy” but seems to have impeccable timing and a suspiciously good ability to frame the action — shows the vehicle burning rubber on a skidpad with a few donuts. Road & Track pointed out that an F-150 appears briefly that looks like one customized by RTR Vehicles, and could indicate that this is a test vehicle for Vaughn Gittin Jr. Gittin is a likely choice to appear in a promotion, as he drives Mustang in the Formula D series, and helped introduce its 2010 revision to the world.

Ford’s upcoming 2021 Mustang Mach-E is one step closer to making its way to consumers. On Tuesday, the automaker said anyone who has already reserved the EV in the US can convert their reservation into an order starting today.

In the same post, Ford also confirmed the leaked specs that came out in April. All four versions of the EV will feature improved power and torque than initially expected. To start, Ford says the standard range RWD model will output the equivalent of 266 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, up from its previous estimate of 255 horsepower and 306 pound-feet of torque. Meanwhile, the standard range AWD variant has 11 more horsepower. Similarly, the extended range RWD version will deliver 290 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, up from 282 horsepower and 306 pound-feet of torque.

Ford said that it will use the cloud to combine driver behavior, forecast weather (since temperatures affect battery life) and road/terrain conditions. It will then use fleet averages to improve range estimates, even on roads you’ve never driven. If range will be impacted on a given route, the Mach-E will tell you why and give a new estimate before you depart.

Down the road, Ford will deliver over-the-air updates that factor in “real-time traffic, road-slope, the terrain and elevation of a given route, and even the temperature at [the] final destination,” the automaker said. The 2021 Mustang Mach-E is expected to have a 300 mile extended range (235 miles for the GT model) and will arrive in the US by late 2020. It’ll start at $43,895 excluding the $7,500 federal tax credit.

A new feature in Ford vehicles, hands-free driving on divided highways will be available as Active Drive Assist, which includes a driver-facing camera that makes sure you’re paying attention as the car maneuvers itself. Producing the package hardware-first and saying customers will be able to get the rest in a future software update resembles Tesla’s Autopilot / Full Self-Driving promises, and while Ford doesn’t go that far, it does claim there’s “the potential for more enhancements in the future.”

As long as your trip on the 100,000 miles or so of mapped highways supported across the US and Canada, then drivers can sit back with their hands off the wheel, instead of needing to keep them there as is the case with lane-keeping technology and adaptive cruise control. GM Super Cruise tech brought a similar feature to Cadillacs a few years ago and the company is now working on an “Ultra Cruise” that supports city streets. Ford’s drive assist can respond to obstacles by stopping, or change lanes and continue on to evade a potential collision.

Ford

According to Ford’s chief product development and purchasing officer Hau Thai-Tang, “By introducing driver assist technologies like Active Drive Assist, Ford’s version of hands-free driving, we’re allowing our customers to feel more confident whenever they’re behind the wheel.” The company said it tested the system with “the mother of all road trips,” covering all kinds of traffic and weather conditions to make sure its sensors would operate consistently no matter what you’re driving through.

Other vehicles will also get Active Drive Assist features and upgraded Co-Pilot360 tech in the 2021 model year, although those packages may vary by model. In the Mach-E, the Co-Pilot360 2.0 standard package’s lane-keeping system will include Road Edge Detection that can alert a driver if their car is drifting over a line or onto the dirt and Blind-Spot assist. Its adaptive cruise control can get the car moving again after coming to a complete stop for as long as thirty seconds — the previous system needed to be reactivated manually if the car stopped for over three seconds. It’s also adding an intersection assist that will apply the brakes if it detects an oncoming vehicle when you’re making a left turn across traffic.

Ford

Ford’s upcoming 2021 Mustang Mach-E might have more speed and acceleration than expected, according to leaked dealer slides seen by Mach-E forum administrators and spotted by Autoblog. All of the versions appear to have gained horsepower and torque over the launch specs, with the standard range RWD model now hitting 266 horsepower instead of 255, with torque going from 306 to 317 pound feet. Meanwhile, the top end AWD extended range model has jumped 14 horses up to 346 horsepower while torque rose from 417 to 428 pound feet.

When Ford originally published the Mustang Mach-E specs on launch, it said that the power figures were “targeted” numbers. If the new specs prove to be accurate, it managed to find some extra ponies while bring the Mach-E to production spec. While modest, the boost could give Ford some extra bragging rights by shaving tenths off acceleration times and boosting the top speeds.

This likely won’t lead to a significant uptick in reservations ahead of the Mach-E’s late 2020 debut. First… ew. And if that isn’t a factor, there’s a good possibility that you have better (or at least, more sanitary) ways to use 4.8 cubic feet of free space. This does highlight the practicality of frunks in EVs, though. If there’s any serious complaint, it’s that the Mach-E doesn’t appear to have an equivalent to Tesla’s party mode. Can you get on that, Ford?

While Ford hasn’t revealed exactly how many people are lining up to pre-order the Mustang Mach-E, the company has released some stats showing which versions people prefer so far. Apparently battery life is important to buyers of the sporty electric SUV, with 80 percent opting for versions with the long range battery that lets it go up to an estimated 300 miles between charges. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive version is also popular, at 55 percent of orders, and 30 percent of those interested have opted for the GT trim level.

The First Edition vehicles are already sold out, but, as Autoblog notes, if you find the Mustang-branded crossover appealing, you can order one with $500 down. You’ll have to wait until 2021 for a GT, but other trim levels may ship before the end of this year.

By Byron Hurd

​​​​​​The Ford Mustang Mach-E electric crossover was one of the biggest hype magnets of the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show, but with deliveries still a year away, would-be buyers have been waiting patiently (or perhaps not-so-patiently) for any production and delivery updates. Thanks to a Ford dealer in Colorado, we have our first glimpse of what’s in store for Ford’s early adopters.

A screenshot shared with members of MachEforum.com (and spotted by Motor1.com) reveals Ford’s plans for converting online reservations into firm orders and, eventually, customer deliveries, promising monthly email updates to buyers throughout the process.

Starting in the spring, dealers will reach out to customers who have placed online reservations, at which point they can confirm trim configurations and pricing. The dealer will then place a final order and refund the $500 reservation deposit.

By summer, Ford will begin finalizing its production schedule, and dealers will reach out to customers to discuss charging options as the assembly line gears up. By fall, production should be underway, and dealers will begin scheduling test drives and finalizing sales.

Ford still has no concrete timeline for the availability of the range-topping GT model. The shared image states explicitly that GT orders will be placed “at a later date,” and the company has previously acknowledged that we probably won’t see that variant until spring, 2021—when the first deliveries of lower-trim models are slated to begin.

This information will be of particular interest to those holding reservations for the Mach-E First Edition which sold out in a matter of days after the new crossover’s announcement. As the trim name implies, it not only inaugurates the Mach-E model, but also indicates its production priority; these will receive dealer attention before reservations for other trims.

Related Video

Don’t despair too much if you want the electric Mustang relatively quickly. The not-quite-entry-level Premium model is still due to arrive in late 2020 (not far behind the First Edition) as of this writing. It’s the Select, California Route 1 and GT variants that won’t arrive until early 2021. You can still impress all the kids on your block, but you can’t be too picky about how you do it.

The Mach-E’s early sales performance won’t make Tesla too nervous (at least, not right away) when that company just delivered 97,000 EVs in a single quarter. Ford’s vehicle is generally priced above the Model 3, mind you, and it’s also Ford’s first from-scratch mainstream EV. The brand doesn’t have Tesla’s experience with EVs, let alone giant factories to keep up with demand. The greater challenge is sustaining and expanding on that momentum. Ford is a titan in the automotive world, but it still has a lot of work to do if it wants to compete with Tesla in terms of sheer numbers.