Ford Mach-E will come with zero range anxiety

Wednesday, 24 June 2020

This is Ford's Active Driver Assist in action.

Ford's Mach-E will have some smart new tech to eliminate range anxiety.

Called Intelligent Range, Ford says the system can accurately estimate how much range the all-electric SUV has left, helping reduce anxiety about when and where customers can recharge.

“Electric vehicle customers need to be able to trust their range estimates,” said Darren Palmer, Ford global director for battery electric vehicles. “People want to be confident they’re going to make it where they need to go, whether they’re on a road trip or coming home from work.'

Can the Mach-E get from Auckland to Wellington on one charge? We've no idea but it will, thanks to new range-prediction technology.

Intelligent Range can calculate the range left bast on past driver behaviour and forecasted weather conditions. The battery system reports the total capacity left while the powertrain module monitors real-time energy use. Cloud-based technologies tell the Mach-E if the weather is warmer or colder (which can affect range) and the car figures the total range out from there.

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It won't be here for a while but the Mach-E will be a technological powerhouse when it does land.

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* Electric Mustang SUV in high demand

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The Mach-E factors in crowdsourced data from other connected Ford EVs that choose to share information on the road. The SUV can track how much energy is used in different circumstances, including varying speed, terrain and climate conditions, so it can use fleet averages across all Mustang Mach-Es to improve range estimates – even for routes and conditions an individual customer has never driven before.

If your Mach-E does run out of juice, buyers in some markets (it is yet to be confirmed if New Zealand is one) that have opted into the BEV Roadside Assistance Programme can be towed to the nearest charging point, which can be a FordPass Charging Network location, EV-certified Ford Dealership, customer residence or the nearest public charger.

Intelligent Range will receive over-the-air updates as they come, which will continue to improve predictions and offer more functionalities like real-time traffic conditions, road slope, the terrain and elevation of a given route, and even the temperature at their final destination.

“Changes in driver behaviour and the environment can often impact range, which is the reason other electric vehicles often experience significant range adjustments,” said Mark Poll, electric vehicle charging user experience manager, Ford Motor Company.

“Ford is tapping the power of the cloud to make estimates even more accurate – reducing the need for surprise charging stops and to help reduce customers’ anxiety.”