Ford’s fix for range anxiety

Range anxiety is one of the key issues that stops people buying electric vehicles and has been for a long time.

Now Ford has previewed a feature dubbed ‘Intelligent Range’ that will feature in the forthcoming Mustang Mach-E battery electric vehicle that could help resolve that problem.   

Drawing on a heap of different sources via the cloud, it is designed to provide a more accurate picture of battery charge and driving range.

Those inputs include past driving behaviour, weather forecast and even crowd-sourced data from other Mustang Mach-Es.

Beyond that, Ford says future over the air updates will allow other factors to be considered such as real-time traffic conditions and terrain and elevation of a planned route.

Estimates for range are updated along the way and communicated to the driver, along with reasons for the change.

As a backup, Ford will offer free towing up to 56km for Mach-E owners if they do run out of charge.

“Electric vehicle customers need to be able to trust their range estimates,” said Darren Palmer, Ford global director, battery electric vehicles.

“People want to be confident they’re going to make it where they need to go, whether they’re on a road trip or coming home from work. Our new Intelligent Range feature helps ensure Mustang Mach-E owners around the globe know where they stand ahead of time, freeing them up to enjoy the ride.”

The announcement of ‘Intelligent Range’ came just days after Ford announced the Mach-E would be fitted with a suite of sophisticated driver assist systems headlined by a semi-autonomous driving feature.

The Mach-E is an electric SUV pitched straight at the Tesla Model Y. Due to go on-sale in North America late this year, its Australian arrival date has yet to be announced.

The Mach-E launches as single-motor rear-wheel drive and twin-motor all-wheel drive. The flagship GT Performance Edition claims a 0-60mph (96.5km/h) acceleration time of just 3.5 secs and a range between recharges up to 480km.