Is Ford falling behind in the electric car race? Why the Blue Oval needs the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning to take on Tesla, Hyundai and Toyota | Opinion

Before Ford announced plans for its first electric vehicle in Australia, there was an exciting expectation over what model it would be - the sporty Mustang Mach-E SUV? Or perhaps the big, tough but smart F-150 Lightning ute?

The answer was neither, it was the E-Transit, it’s battery-powered electric commercial van. While there’s certainly an important model for the brand and caters to a growing market for commercial vehicles, it isn’t the kind of exciting EV that other brands are offering to successfully convert people to battery-powered motoring.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Tesla Model Y, Polestar 2 and upcoming Toyota bZ4x and Subaru Solterra are all models with wider appeal than a commercial van. Thankfully for the Blue Oval brand, it has such a vehicle waiting in the wings - the Mustang Mach-E.

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This is a sporty, electric SUV that would undoubtedly have major appeal to an Australian market that loves both performance cars and SUVs - and a growing attraction to electric cars.

Originally, we were told demand for the Mach-E in the left-hand-drive US market meant right-hand-drive production wasn’t a priority. Since then, the Mach-E has become available with the steering wheel on the correct side and is sold in the UK and will be hitting showrooms in New Zealand in 2023.

So why hasn’t it been locked in for an Australian launch? It’s always hard to understand decisions made internally in car company boardrooms, but all evidence suggests it’s a case of ‘when’ not ‘if’ the Mach-E will hit Australian roads, and Ford Australia is just patiently biding its time to confirm it.

Perhaps the brand is focused on the all-important launch of the all-new Ranger, Everest and Ranger Raptor - unquestionably its three most important models. And then the new-generation Mustang will be revealed in Detroit, so perhaps once these big events are out of the way the time will be right for the Mach-E to make its mark.

The Mach-E is still no closer to reaching Australian shores.

Still, it’s another hard-to-understand decision from Ford Australia, because typically car companies only hesitate to promote new models if they’re concerned that it will impact an existing offering. In the case of the Mach-E, the only sales it’s likely to impact are for the Hyundai, Kia, Tesla and others, with buyers potentially waiting for the Ford if they know it’s coming in the not-too-distant future.

Especially when you consider Ford Australia has confirmed it will have five electrified vehicles by 2025 and we have a pretty clear idea that the Mach-E will be one of them. The rest are expected to include the E-Transit, E-Transit Custom, Ranger plug-in hybrid and Everest PHEV.

Not revealing a detailed line-up of upcoming models isn’t unusual for car makers, so there’s nothing wrong with Ford Australia playing its cards close to its chest - so to speak.

The issue is the brand is already in danger of falling behind in the electric vehicle race, despite having some exciting EVs on offer in other markets, including the F-150 Lightning and planned model shared with the Volkswagen ID.4's underpinnings.

The E-Transit will be Ford Australia's first electric vehicle.

With the E-Transit delayed until 2023 and the Mach-E not likely to arrive until late 2023 at the earliest, there’s every possibility Ford won’t have multiple mainstream electric options in the Australian market until 2025. Other brands, including Hyundai, Kia and Tesla are already there.

There’s a strong argument to be made that Ford Australia is in the box seat to take the lead on electrified utes, which could become a key battleground for brands in Australia. The combination of the hybrid Ranger (which again is an open-secret with no official Ford confirmation) and the F-150 Lightning would break new ground in Australia and give the Blue Oval a unique selling point.

However, the possibility of the F-150 Lightning ever making it to our shores seemingly depends heavily on the success of the locally operated F-150 conversion program that the brand is currently working on ahead of the petrol-powered pickups 2023 launch.

On the one hand, Ford is perfectly positioned with the arrival of new Ranger and Everest, the addition of F-150 in 2023 and the eventual introduction of the new Mustang. But, on the other hand, the brand can’t afford to ignore the growing electric vehicle market and fall behind…