Last fall, Ford introduced the 2021 Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle with at least 300 miles of range. Ford told ArsTechnica that in 2017, it trashed its original plans for its next battery electric vehicle around the time Tesla’s Model 3 arrived. The article by ArsTechnica also pointed out that Ford’s Mach-E was inspired by Tesla (Ford even held it’s event just around the block from Tesla’s design studio.) And now, like Tesla, Ford will be using over-the-air (OTA) updates to update its vehicle’s software.
Ford shared more information about OTA updates for the Mustang Mach-E. Using OTA, Ford hopes to upgrade its system just like Tesla does with its vehicles. Ford promises that its updates will be quicker and take less than two minutes to complete.
OTA technology will allow the vehicle to be updated from pretty much anywhere. “The beauty of the Mustang Mach-E is that what our customers experience on day one is just the beginning–it will evolve to add even more features and capabilities over time,” John Vangelov, connected services manager at Ford, told Autoblog.
Ford will offer “hands free” driving for the Mustang Mach E in a future OTA update. Yes that sounds familiar. #MustangMachE
— Joe White (@JBWEyesonroad) November 18, 2019
Ford also promises to let its customers know ahead of time if there is an update that could be longer. Mach-E owners will be able to schedule the longer updates to be more at convenient times. An example of this could be while they are at work, in bed, or other times the electric vehicle isn’t in use for the period of time the update will need to take.
Three Key Things About Ford’s OTA Updates:
Invisibility. This will enable the update to download in the background so you and your car can keep going. Customers will still receive notifications.
Fast. Ford says many of these updates will take less than two minutes. Expansive. Ford claims that nearly all parts of the Mustang Mach-E will receive OTA updates.
New Features. As time goes by, these updates will deliver new features, performance enhancements, and other things. Ford plans to deliver the first update within six months after the first Mustang Mach-E vehicles have been delivered.
Regarding Ford being inspired by Tesla, I think it’s a good thing. It shows that Ford is able to evolve and learn from the “new kid” as some see Tesla. The moment we stop learning new things is when we stop growing. This shows that Ford, although established as a legacy, can still grow and become even better.
I really hope that the Mach-E will be the game-changer that will encourage Ford’s own customers to switch to EVs. Sales of the Mach-E will prove to Ford that people actually do want EVs and as they say, money talks. I think Ford is listening.