Owning my Mustang Mach-E for the Past 5 + Years.

 

With all the articles that claim that owners of Battery Electric Vehicles, BEV, regret buying them, I thought it was time for me to give a report on owning my Mustang Mach-E for the past 5 + years.

How is it holding up? 

$40,000 miles on the original tires and they have at least another 15,000 miles of use before they would need to be changed according to the Micheline rating. 

The standard battery pack that Ford says has a maximum of 260 miles of range has an actual range of 306 miles. 

I can not detect any loss in battery charging range. I normally charge to 80% and get between 235 and 245 miles of range.

Zero repairs cost.

There was one manufacturer recall for a wiring harness on the brake system that was done in the same day at no cost. 

One maintenance item. Although the 12-volt battery did not fail or show signs of failing, I chose to replace it after 4 years of use. My experience with my previous ICE vehicles in Florida is that the 12-volt battery last only 4 years because of the hot weather. This may also be because the engine compartment in an ICEV gets extremely hot from all the waste heat of the engine. An EV does not produce any significant amount of waste heat from the high voltage battery so the 12-volt battery could have lasted longer but I chose an ounce of prevention. I installed it in 15 minutes. Cost $230.

How is its resale value? A recent check of Edmunds has it between $18k and $20k. A Google search for a 2021 Select model Mach-E found two for sale one with 55k miles for $22,000 and one with 100,000 miles for $17,000. Since mine has only 40k miles its true value is closer to $21,000. Its cost in July 2021, out the door, was $37,500, with the $7,500 tax rebate. I calculate it retained 56% of its original cost.

I drive about 900 miles a month. Trips range from 15 to 165 mile round trips, and with the occasional 400 mile trip.

I charge at home 99% of the time using my 30 amp 240 volt dryer outlet. Only on round trips more than 220 miles which may occur once a year do I charge at public charging stations.

I use Duke Energy's off-peak EV program and get $7.50 off my monthly bill. There are more than enough off-peak hours to always be able to charge. Duke's program allows you 2 times a month to charge outside the off-peak times.  The Ford charging software program makes it effortless to charge during the prescribed days and times. Days and times and percent charge are set with the program. All I need to do is plug the car in, which takes about 2 minutes.

Cost to drive.

Actual cost for the 900 miles is $26. If I could find gas for $4/gal and a comparable SUV that averaged 25 mpg it would have cost me $144. That's a $118 savings. Your driving patterns and your electric rate may differ so your saving may differ.

If I had to have an oil change once a year that would cost an additional $65 and $100.

Brakes, as expected, are in excellent condition thanks to regenerative braking.

My auto insurance does not cost me anymore than what my last ICEV cost me.

The car still is a pleasure to drive. My one complaint is they keep doing remote software updates adding features to their multimedia entertainment system. The update occurs automatically during off-hours I select, so the update is not the problem. It is the changes that occur to the user interface that have to be re-learned. Every time my computer or phone tells me it needs an update to have better features I always think of an episode of "All-in-the Family." It has Rob Reiner's character finding a box of cereal on the table with the statement on it "New and Improved". He then declares " What were we eating before, old and shitty!"

In conclusion, I do not miss waiting on line and breathing gasoline fumes at the gas station. Would never own an ICEV again. Since the transportation sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gases driving a zero-emission BEV is good for the planet.