Plug-in Pony

Even the muscle cars of the 90s are getting green updates

A plug-in pony sounds so wrong. There has never been a Mustang that does not offer a throaty V8. And apart from the fact that the Ford Mustang Mach-e will only be available in whisper-quiet electric green – it is an SUV! Not that going the sports-utility route should shock you. Just about every manufacturer from Porsche to Rolls Royce has tapped into this lucrative market. Over the last decade we have seen the gas guzzlers of yesteryear disappear and be replaced by engines that are smaller, quieter, more fuel efficient, and which cough out less noxious gasses.

Announcing a brand-new model with only a range of electric motors takes some steely courage, and Ford have boldly pronounced their commitment to the second revolution. This may be one of the slowest revolutions in history since the first electric carriage was invented a half century before Carl Benz powered up the first gasoline-powered automobile on New Year’s Eve 1879!

Unveiling the Mach-e, which is scheduled to be available in the USA early next year, chairman Bill Ford went right back to the roots of the blue oval. “At the first-ever Detroit auto show, Henry Ford said he was working on something that would strike like forked lightning – that was the Model T. Today, the Ford Motor Company is proud to unveil a car that strikes like forked lightning all over again,” Bill beamed. And with the top-of-the-range GT hitting the 100 mark in 3.5 seconds, he is not too far wrong.

Add some menacing Mustang styling, a Tesla-like central infotainment screen, slicker controls than the latest smartphone, and massive cargo capacity, and the Mach-e should be a steal at $43,895.

A few extra greenbacks for extended-range batteries will get you close to 500 kilometres, and its claimed fast chargers will take the Mach-e from 10% to 80% in around 38 minutes.

The Fordpass Charging Network is the largest in the USA, with more than 12,500 charging stations and 35,000 plugs standing by for action. But there will not be too much action back in South Africa, where no firm plans have been made to import the supercharged pony five-seater.

The striking, low-slung, four-door Porsche Taycan is due to hit our potholed roads later this year. Apart from the sculpted looks we expect from Stuttgart, the Turbo S (yes, turbo is now an e-word) tops a hundred in 2.8 seconds. How is that for a quiet blur?

But sometimes silence is a problem. So, the new Nissan Leaf comes with the world’s first zero-emission lullaby – the soundtrack of a humming combustion engine to put angry babies to sleep!

But while babies around Europe are snoozing soundly, and Nissan scored a brilliant win in the Mexico City E-race, there is no rush to introduce the Leaf to South Africa. The major manufacturer says they are “assessing market readiness.”

And that is an aspect that has got to be on the mind of any purchaser of an EV in this country.

Sure, we have been able to dip our toes into green waters with a multitude of hybrids that started with the Toyota Prius… but now we have to decide whether we are brave enough to dive straight in. And, so far, we are shivering on the edge of the green pool. Not much more than a thousand Electric Vehicles have been sold within our shores, while there are about three million cars registered!

Can you really blame us? Our home-grown mega inventor and entrepreneur Elon Musk whines about import duties for his Tesla.

Eishkom drains our pockets, produces mainly “dirty” coal-fired power, and leaves us in the dark on a regular basis.

And although some manufacturers like Jaguar are stepping into the breach, there is a paucity of charging stations. Imagine joining the queue to recharge your steed in Harrismith over the Easter hols.

But here is a claim to really fry your brain. The Government and Eskom have bought into the Paris agreement with a promise to have three million electric vehicles on the country’s roads by 2050.

Lovely idea. I just wish they would come up with these plans when the lights are on.