“Baby” Mustang Mach-E Planned, Volkswagen ID.3 In Storage (Pics)
CleanTechnica has a new friend — Electric Fun, a website that offers “Spicy electric car news.” We got an email from the site alerting us to two EV stories happening right now in Europe that we want to share with our readers.
“Baby” Mustang Mach-E In The Works
The Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUV was just announced a couple of months ago, but already there are reports Ford is hard at work on a smaller version that will be based on Volkswagen’s MEB electric car chassis. Think of the new car as the electric version of the Ford Escape, while the full size Mach-E is closer to the current Ford Edge. No design sketches of the new car have been released.
The problem? The Mustang design language has always emphasized the “long hood/short deck” look. The MEB chassis, as versatile as it is, emphasizes the compactness of the powertrain by reducing the length of the hood and putting a premium on interior space. Anyone who has ever ridden for long hours in the vestigial back seat of a 1964 Mustang will instantly understand the difference. Ted Cannis, director of electrification at Ford, tells Auto Motor und Sport, “It is important that we have enough flexibility.”
The new car will almost certainly be an SUV. The question is whether Ford is contemplating a coupe or perhaps a convertible based on the MEB platform to flesh out the Mach-E lineup. The “baby” Mach-E could come in either single- or dual-motor configuration. With the largest available battery fitted, it could offer as much as 300 horsepower and a range of 500 kilometers on the WLTP test cycle.
Hey, You’ve Got To Hide Your ID.3s Away
Recently, we reported that Volkswagen is experiencing significant software issues with its ID.3 electric sedans. Serial production began last November, but reports from Germany indicate as many as 20,000 of the first cars off the line are being parked in leased spaces around Germany while the company’s software engineers try to fix the digital dilemmas.
Some readers booed us and even suggested we were spreading FUD — fear, uncertainty, and doubt. It almost seemed we were being accused of being in league with the oil companies and mainstream car companies who spend millions to delay, delay, delay the advent of the electric car era.
Well, funk that. Electric Fun also referred us to the latest video from NextMove, a German language YouTube channel that reports on the electric car universe. And NextMove has the photos to prove Volkswagen is doing precisely what our prior story alleged. Jump to 8:43 in this video (also below) to see them.
The only question is why the cars stored inside are protected by individual plastic tents but the ones outside are not. In any event, it will be a cold day in Hell before CleanTechnica publishes FUD regarding electric cars, so put that in your pipe and smoke it, conspiracy theory advocates.
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