The Tesla Model Y crossover is, by all appearances, set to become the hottest new EV in 2020.
But the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric crossover also appears to be a hot item. A single Ford dealer in SunnyVale, Calif. has racked up 100 reservations for the Mach E, according to a January 2 Detroit Free Press story.
And Ford has already sold out the 'First Edition' Mach-E. That’s a level of enthusiasm usually reserved for Tesla vehicles and underscores the latent demand for an alternative.
The rivalry also shows how far the EV market has come in the U.S. — Americans finally have a stylish alternative from a traditional Detroit carmaker to the gadgets-on-wheels from Silicon-Valley-based Tesla.
Ford says it will make about 50,000 of the crossover EVs during the first year of production.
“I like the idea of a Tesla but I don't trust Tesla.”
Mach-E reservation holder, Detroit Free Press, January 2, 2020
The Mach-E ranges from about $44,000 to over $60,000 with the driving range maxing out at about 300 miles.
And the sweet spot for the two EVs shows the cars pretty evenly matched on key metrics though Tesla gets the nod on price.
David Undercoffler, a Forbes Contributor and Editor-in-Chief of Autolist.com, came up with some interesting results in a survey Autolist.com did of about 1,000 people.
“The results were essentially a draw: 51 percent of respondents said they would choose the Mustang Mach-E, 49 percent said they would choose the Model Y,” Undercoffler wrote in a November 22 post.
Those who preferred the Ford cited reasons such as “prefer/trust Ford more” and “Ford’s established dealer and service network” and “concerns about Tesla’s future.”
Those who preferred Tesla cited things like “the Model Y’s expected performance” and “Tesla’s Supercharging network” or “dislike of the Ford brand.”
However the rivalry shakes out in 2020 and 2021, Ford is going right after the Model Y with the Mach-E and isn’t pussyfooting around with anything like the half-baked compliance EVs it sold for years.
"Ford, instead of sticking its toe in the pool, jumped completely into the deep end. Tesla has owned the market...So Ford's going at 'em,” Matt Stanford, general manager at Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor, Michigan told the Detroit Free Press.
Stanford said he has 70 orders for the Mach-E already.
