Green car reports’ best car for sale 2021

A Mustang as the most important new green car of the year?

That may have been our reaction over the past few weeks. Since our editors started lying with the Ford Mustang Mach-E in 2021 for opportunities for the first ride, it has definitely been our unanimous winner. And yet at the same time we all seem a little surprised that it is so good.

Its unveiling in November 2019, virtually next to Tesla’s Hawthorne design center, caused excitement among enthusiasts, but as Ford began to leak more details indicating that it was taking this model seriously, and that it was not just a special project for EV enthusiasts were not, our interest increased.

The Mach-E mentions an interesting set of influences. It offers versions with an actual 300-mile EPA-rated range, complete vehicle updates and is one of the first vehicles for a driver assistance system (called Active Driver Assist) with the potential to rival Navigate on Autopilot. The new vertical version of Sync offers many interface options.

After spending time behind the wheel and around the Mach-E – as we filtered our minds about horse logos everywhere – we call it nicer and better riding than the Tesla Model Y. Some of Ford’s leading engineering talents were involved , it seems. Furthermore, the cabin material does not just come from the parts holder, and the general feeling of silence and refinement – ‘hardware’ pieces that Tesla cannot change with a simple update – is a notch above what Tesla offers in Model Y.

It is the past, present and future of the car, all wrapped up in one. The past for the pony car heritage and continuity of design everyone recognizes; the present for widely available and supported; and the future for its fully electric drive and connectivity.

Not a Tesla trouncer, something better

The Mach-E is not the cliched Tesla killer. Instead, it’s definitely the sweet spot for many Americans who want an electric car but just do not see themselves in a Tesla. It has charm, and yet it’s hard to spot serious flaws – truly an unusual combination in the world of cars.

Yes, we know there are things that make Tesla better. Ford says the Mach-E can win up to 61 miles in ten minutes with a 150 kW fast charger, while Tesla said Model Y can recover up to 168 km in 15 minutes in 15 minutes. Furthermore, the Supercharger network is still much better at charging fast than it is in the CCS format, but Electrify America, EVgo and others collectively get the benefit.

And the mere physics of Tesla’s efficiency can make the Mach-E look like a low performer. The Tesla in dual-engine form makes 326 miles of usable range out of 75 kwh usable range, while the Mach-E in equivalent form runs 88km from 88 kWh. But we have to believe that Ford will make a profit with on-the-air updates in the near future.

Another scent of electric

Since we have visited most of these finalists again over the past few weeks, each has a different character. The businesses behind it have made decisions about performance, loading and interface that lead to an experience you would not mistake for another.

Model Y delivers many of the same virtues as the Model 3, and it takes the excellent efficiency and performance of the model into the most popular segment of the US vehicle market. Although it arrived early, it missed the kind of surprising progress with the Model 3 we had just adopted. The Polestar 2 was conceived by a team that paid the most attention to cosmetic and performance details and is the best European performance car paradigm. The Volvo XC40 Recharge is a family that wants comfort, luxurious luxury and a unique Volvo aesthetic. And the Toyota RAV4 Prime is the core of the market, combining high-mileage assets with enough electrical range to make most days free of exhaust emissions.

The Prime might also have been our winner this year if Toyota had committed to building as much of this as buyers want. In 2019, Toyota sold nearly 450,000 RAV4 models, of which the RAV4 Hybrid makes up more than 20% of them. We could not get past what looks like a strange oversight – that Toyota would think less than 5% of RAV4 buyers would want a faster accelerated, better-performing version that has much of the wow factor of a fully electric vehicle offers.

The coming year represents an opportunity for the Volkswagen ID.4, which targets ownership costs and mainstream models such as the RAV4, to conquer RAV4 owners. While we took a look at what the savings did not achieve this year and why, the ID.4 was not on this year’s shortlist due to the timing.

No compliance cars or narrow niches

Availability and scope definitely play a role in our decision. Polestar has so far treated the Polestar 2 as a niche car in the US, with limited availability focusing on large metro areas and without US availability for the affordable versions offered in Europe. And while the XC40 Recharge is a compelling urban crossover that marks the future of Volvo, the combination of its size, its price point and its very similarity to the petrol XC40 points to a cautious entry into EVs that the US may not prioritize as much as it could.

After a first ride, we remain convinced that Ford will easily sell all the Mach-Es they can manufacture – based on what the company has previously said, in the first full production year alone is around 50,000, with about half of those heading to the US Will it encourage Ford to make more? Officials have not yet pledged to further increase production numbers and have not confirmed whether a second electric model from the same Mexican factory will lower the total.

How dedicated is Ford? The company now benefits from the environmental vision of CEO William Clay Ford Jr. and a sincere enthusiasm for electrical performance from Jim Farley, new CEO. The company pointed to its voluntary agreement with California for stronger emission standards that will encourage more cars. It has also started announcing more about a whole set of electric vehicles for affordability and cost of ownership – including E-Transit electric vans, an all-electric version of the F-150, a project with Rivian and several other cars which by the middle of the decade.

In our editorial team, editors who are not necessarily sold on Tesla’s vision for the future saw the light of day with the Mach-E, and even in the midst of a pandemic, the Mach-E attracted gawkers in our parking lots and driveways – more so than any other EV we can remember. Some of Ford’s complementary efforts, including taking a high-performance version to the NASCAR fields, seem to be part of the mission.

The introduction of the Mach-E may indicate a psychological turning point in the development of the electric motor, and its impact on EV usage may be much higher than the production numbers suggest. Making it a Mustang was a smart business for the company and for clean air

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Visit our editorial team’s other best car awards for sale – at Motor Authority and The Car Connection – and see what readers have chosen as winners in The Car Connection’s annual Driver’s Choice Awards.