Ford Mustang Mach-E Preorders Open In China, Charging Partnerships With State Grid & NIO

April 13, 20214 years ago Zachary Shahan 0 Comments

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As with the Tesla Model 3, the Ford Mustang Mach-E made for the Chinese market will be made in China (rather than Mexico). Logical. Preorders just opened up for this new electric crossover/SUV in 20 Chinese cities. Will it be a home run for Ford in China, or will it be a soggy noodle that can’t break into the top 10 or even top 20? We shall see.

Ford Mustang Mach-E pricing in China is reported to be $40,000 to $58,000.

One interesting announcement that came out alongside the opening up of preorders is that Ford Mustang Mach-E drivers will be able to plug into the NIO charging network. Which means Ford is paying NIO for that service, and then rolling the cost into the cost of the Mustang Mach-E.

Ford’s main partner for charging, though, appears to be the State Grid. That’s not as hot and controversial as Ford using NIO’s network, though, so it’s not making any headlines.

Here’s a statement from Ford:

“Mustang Mach-E users can access over 300,000 high-quality public charging piles, of which 160,000 are fast charging, in more than 340 cities across the country through an exclusive APP. NIO’s nationwide fast-charging network will also be accessible to Mustang Mach-E users.”

And here are some tweets from someone in attendance:

Ford has announced that it will cooperate with NIO to share the charging network. 👍👏$NIO pic.twitter.com/9GWgMFK2A7

— Chris (@Klp168) April 13, 2021

An important and new partnership kicked off. $NIO fast charging network may support all of the charging Mach-E, plug and play.
The GM of Ford’s China EV Div. thanked $TSLA as it has set an industry benchmark, & also thanked NIO for changing the industry & users' enterprise. pic.twitter.com/6jCYk45Qrh

— Chris (@Klp168) April 13, 2021

– Ford won't sell Mach-E in the existing dealer system;
– starts Mach E sales in the 20 cities shown in Fig 2, this yr;
– mainly integrates 3rd-party charging; 300K piles will be introduced this year, of which 160K are quick-charging;$NIO pic.twitter.com/hBdG8YgLYL

— Chris (@Klp168) April 13, 2021

In the USA, the Mustang Mach-E is the first electric vehicle to deploy plug-&-charge tech — you can just plug the car in and unplug it at stations that permit such charging (e.g., Electrify America stations). Ford is taking the same approach in China, and the plug-&-charge solution is reportedly in place at 45,000 fast charging units.

The Ford Mustang Mach-E is a great electric vehicle, but its style and history don’t seem like a Chinese fit to me. Maybe I’m wrong and being too stereotypical and it will be a big hit.

Stay tuned. And in the meantime, I encourage a quick read of the following.