Ford has finally shed some light on the scale of the delays it is facing to launch its first mass-market electric car, the Mustang Mach-E SUV. After the company announced on Wednesday that it dispatched 3,739 Mustang Mach-Es in February – the first full month of deliveries – she said The Verge in a statement that about 4,500 customers will have to wait longer than expected to receive the electric SUV.
The automaker did not specifically say what is causing the delay, only that it is holding electric Mustangs “as part of our commitment to deliver a quality vehicle to customers”. Ford said earlier in January that it was delaying the delivery of “several hundred” of them for quality checks.
To help make up for the delay, Ford is giving affected customers an extra 250 kWh of free charging at stations that are part of the company’s FordPass Charging Network. (Mustang Mach-E buyers were already receiving 250 kWh free as a promotion.) Ford also says it will “cover the first month’s payment” – up to $ 1,000 – “for approximately 250 customers with long delays in receiving their Mustang Mach-E. ”News of these accommodations bubbled for the first time at a Mach-E forum on Tuesday.
Ford is not the only one having problems with the launch of an EV. Earlier this week, The Verge reported for the first time that Volvo is holding a series of XC40 Recharge SUVs in U.S. ports to send a software update before electric vehicles reach customers. Volkswagen also had problems during the launch of its mass market EV ID 3 last year because of a software problem.
Ford also had trouble launching a new version of Explorer in 2019, which led to a shake-up in the company’s executive ranks that was the precursor to Jim Farley replacing Jim Hackett as CEO.