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Today I took delivery of my first EV: a 2023 Ford Mustang Mach E.

But first, a bit of history.

I guess you would say I’m a Jeep Guy. Make that I was a Jeep Guy. For almost 20 years, I’ve been driving Jeep vehicles; the last 8 of which have been in Jeep Wranglers. I wouldn’t necessarily say I loved my Jeep – it had its share of issues, especially electrical – but I liked it enough that I kept going back to the brand, and really never looked at anything else.

That all slowly started to change with the emergence of Tesla and their legitimacy of the Electric Car. For years, I silently admired my co-worker’s Model 3, and decided that ‘my next vehicle’ would be electric – most likely a Model Y (as the 3 is just too damn small for my 6’3″ frame). Of course, every time I looked, the price tag was just too far out there, and I never really seriously considered it.

Of course, once Tesla started making serious inroads, other manufacturers rushed to launch EVs and/or PHEVs and Jeep was no exception. But while I occasionally looked at the Jeep web site at the Wrangler 4xE, I never seriously looked considered it. I figured if I was having electrical issues with my Gas Jeep, what would make me think they could do a Hybrid Jeep well? Despite my reservations, a few weeks ago, I received an email from Jeep promoting some loyalty savings deal on trading in my Jeep to move to a new Wrangler.

This wasn’t the first email of its kind I’d received, but for whatever reason, I clicked through and started doing a bit more-than-casual research. I started to actually consider the 4xE, and thought that the relatively puny 40km battery range might actually be a nice toe-dip into the world of EVs. And, while, I did somewhat look into it, I found the cost of the Wrangler to be as high or higher than the Tesla, and still didn’t really trust Jeep with the electric side of things. However, I was more than happy to see the estimated trade-in-value for my Jeep, and that’s what really started me down the path of looking into a new vehicle more seriously.

So – back to the Tesla site I went, and, again started looking at a Model Y, knowing that it suddenly became much more affordable with my high-value trade-in. Naturally, my research didn’t end with the Tesla site, and I headed to YouTube. Quickly, I became somewhat obsessed with EV reviews, and seriously started picturing myself owning an EV.

One video that was served up to me (unfortunately, I can’t remember what exact video it was) compared the Model Y to the Mach E. Prior to that, I guess I was aware that Ford had an EV, but had only seen a couple on the road, and never really even gave it much thought. However, this video really made a solid case for the Mach E as a true Tesla equivalent. I was immediately impressed with the Mach E, and actually preferred the styling and fit-and-finish compared to what I knew about the Model Y. This led me to ultimately contacting a friend who works at a Ford dealer to ‘tell me a bit more about this Mach E’ thing.

We all clearly knew how this would turn out.

My quest to learn more about the Mach E quickly turned into a test drive, and as soon as I got behind the wheel, I knew I was in trouble. I loved the way the Mach E felt familiar, yet also futuristic. There were real controls: A turn signal AND wiper blade stock! An actual, physical PRND dial! A real, honest-to-goodness volume knob! A legitimate Steering Wheel with cruise control and volume buttons, and not some futuristic airplane yoke! Everything just made sense, yet there’s no getting around the 15.5 inch futuristic iPad turned sideways control panel. It felt to me like the perfect blend of the past and the future.

I don’t think I can take credit for this, but I have since described the Mach E as a car that happens to be Electric, vs. a Tesla which is clearly an Electric Car. It’s a small distinction, but to me the Ford is familiar, fun and futuristic, while the Tesla Model Y and 3 are just too far into the future for me – too minimalistic, too dependent on touch-screen controls, and too tightly linked to their ever-increasingly off-putting (to me) owner. I don’t intend this post or site to be political at all, but I find it increasingly difficult to separate Tesla the company and its vehicles from their owner.

Another factor in my decision to go with the Mach E is CarPlay. I am a huge Apple fan, and, despite my issues running CarPlay in the Jeep, have grown to love the integration between my phone and my vehicle. Why Tesla refuses to support it, I will never know. But I do know it was a major factor in my decision. I know GM is abandoning CarPlay and Android Auto in future products, and that’s a huge reason they were never on my consideration list. The fact that Ford’s CEO has praised and embraced the future of CarPlay was a major reason I now own a Mach E.

My final big reason was the recent-ish announcement that Ford and Tesla made that Ford EVs will have access to the Tesla charging network, starting in 2024. For years, I have heard that a big advantage for Tesla was its charging network, and the YouTubers all agree. However, that major advantage will go away starting next year, and I’m looking forward to having much more charging choices as I grow into my EV ownership.

Well, that’s a lot of words for a first post, but I hope to update the site often as I get to learn what fitting an EV into my life looks like. I intend to bring a Canadian perspective to this, as most of the YouTubers I watched and articles I read leading up to my purchase are American, and well, we do things a bit different up here.

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading, and I hope to post again soon about my experiences!