Test drive Ford’s Mach-E Electric Mustang

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Ford,

The company that pioneered affordable personal transportation more than a century ago has created a home run for drivers and shareholders with its new all-electric offering. The company appears poised to make a real mark in the new, electrified era of personal transportation.

Barron’s know because we’ve just been roaming Connecticut for the past few days

Ford Motor‘s

(ticker: F) new crossover size Mustang Mach-E. It hardly resembles the Mustangs of yore, but it has its own sleek styling, inside and out, plus real pizzazz. While some electric vehicles – hello,

Tesla

! – feels more like space capsules than cars, there’s just enough tradition in this Mustang to make you feel at home. It could well set a new standard for EV fun and convenience.

Financial writers don’t typically rate cars, but the automotive industry is changing significantly. Investors believe that electric vehicles are the future of personal transportation. That’s why Elon Musk’s Telsa is now the world’s most valuable car company by a margin roughly equal to the value of two

Toyota Motors

(TM). To find out which companies can grab Tesla, you need to get behind the wheel – not an unpleasant task. Barron’shas driven a Tesla Model 3 with twin engines, a Polestar from Volvo and now a Mach-E so far.

The Mustang Mach-E is our favorite EV ride so far. The car is beautiful and fast – fast enough to generate butterflies. Our model went from zero to 60 in five seconds. The styling and nameplate pulled our hearts. And with prices starting at around $ 44,000, the Mach-E is within reach for many Americans.

The version we drove, the Mach-E First Edition, is the closest thing to Tesla’s twin-engine, four-wheel drive Model Y. That car costs about $ 50,000, while the Mach-E First Edition costs about $ 60,000. But comparing models and functions is an imprecise science at best. In addition, early Mustang buyers are still eligible for a federal tax credit of $ 7,500. Tesla has sold too many electric vehicles to continue to qualify for such credits.

The Model Y has better range – an EPA rating of 320 miles on a single charge, versus 270 miles for the Mustang. In the cold Northeast, the Ford battery management software said it had a range of 240 miles. But reach isn’t everything in life. You have to look at the whole experience of the car.

The most surprising part of the test weekend was not the ride, but the reaction of fellow drivers and passers-by. Ford passed the neck wrap test.

People were uniformly impressed by its appearance and many wanted to ride it. Tesla vehicles, in our experience, no longer receive the same response. Sure, Tesla models S, X and 3 once did, but people have gotten used to their angular, futuristic look. Ford, based on our sample size, has managed to create a very important buzz for the Mach-E.

That’s good for Ford, the company, and good for Ford investors. Ford recently pledged to spend approximately $ 20 billion on electrical and autonomous development between now and 2025. Adjusted for Ford’s size, that’s about the same as any other traditional car manufacturer. Now investors have early evidence that the money will be well spent.

Ford’s stock may already be getting some credit for the Mach-E. Shares are up nearly 31% to date. More likely, however, it was better than expected quarterly results that boosted stocks.

Despite new products and better earnings, Wall Street remains cautious on inventory. About 22% of the analysts reviewing the company’s stock buy. The average buy rating ratio for stocks in the

Dow Jones Industrial Average

is about 57%.

Barron’s is more optimistic than the average analyst, who recently wrote positively about Ford. We said new management could improve margins and lead the company into what Wedbush analyst Dan Ives calls the golden age of EVs. Since that article came out, the stock is up about 27%, better than the comparable 7% gain of the

S&P 500.

Building high-quality electric vehicles at a price that allows traditional carmakers to profit and defend the market share of electric-only companies, such as Tesla, is critical for traditional carmakers. Ford looks like it has an early victory in that battle.

Barron’s has another idea for all EV manufacturers, including Ford and Tesla. EVs these days all seem to have a giant iPad glued to the dashboard. It’s a nifty, futuristic interface, but it’s not really integrated or pretty. An intrepid car designer should do something about that.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]