Those who have agreed to install the OTA update in their Mustang Mach-E electric SUVs will receive an Amazon electronic gift card from Ford, worth $20. To be eligible for the e-gift, owners must fill out a survey, providing feedback about the changes implemented with the over-the-air update. A second software vehicle update is also being sent out, and those who install it and complete another survey get another $20 e-gift card to use at Amazon.

Ford originally announced the 2021 Mustang Mach-E would support OTA updates back in May 2020, promising these would take less than two minutes to install in some cases. These updates are being downloaded in the background, meaning you’ll still be able to use the infotainment system, so downtime should be minimal.

Mustang Mach-E owners will be able to program the time of the day when the over-the-air update is installed, including in the middle of the night when the vehicle is parked. The update will be completed in a matter of seconds after the customer starts the vehicle the next day. When Ford announced OTA support for the electric SUV, it said owners would get the first batch of updates within six months after taking delivery. That means around May or June the first software revision should be rolled out to all cars delivered until then.

Meanwhile, those who have been contacted by Ford to try out the OTA update in the beta testing phase have received the following e-mail, according to Ford Authority:

“You are among a very select group of owners/lessees invited to provide initial feedback to Ford Motor Company via the Connected Vehicle Data Drive Community! This important customer collaboration project gives you access to two Over-the-Air vehicle software updates before anyone else as well as the ability to provide Ford with feedback on the update via two short surveys, approximately once a month. Ford is counting on you for your help with this initiative.”

As a final note, the Mustang Mach-E is not the only new Ford to support OTA updates as the new F-150 pickup can also get software tweaks without having to take the truck to the local dealer. In recent days, we’ve seen other automakers pushing out over-the-air updates for their EVs, including Volvo for the XC40 Recharge and Volkswagen for the ID.3 and ID.4.

Source: Ford Authority

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The third movie from the hilarious franchise has been updated for 2021 to include the Mustang Mach-E, shown here as a pre-production model in the Premium trim level. For those old enough to remember the movie, the reenactment is a faithful reproduction of the original scene, with Ellen Griswold played by the now 69-year-old Beverly Heather D’Angelo coming to the rescue, saving Chevy Chase from a major embarrassment in front of the family.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmAU8MJoJU4

Understandably, the moment the lights are on, all eyes are on the Mustang Mach-E parked in front of the garage. It’s not the ‘Stang from “back when cars made sounds,” but it’s certainly special enough to divert the attention from all the Christmas lights adorning the Griswold home.

For those familiar with the movie franchise, the roles of children – Audrey And Rusty Griswold – were played by different actors, and that’s the case with this scene turned into a Ford ad. The Blue Oval is playing the nostalgia card with the new Mustang Mach-E commercial, and makes us wish Warner Bros should consider a sequel, separate from NBC’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 2 spin-off about Cousin Eddie.

The ad comes only one day after Said Deep, Director of Ford North America Communications, tweeted about customer deliveries of the zero-emissions SUV being underway in the United States. Those eager to get behind the wheel of the performance-oriented GT trim level will have to wait a while as Ford won’t start shipping these until late summer 2021.

Charged up and on their way! #MustangMachE pic.twitter.com/CpLOVJ2cgV

— Said Deep (@TheSaidDeep) December 18, 2020

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The 50 jurors will get together again at the beginning of the year to determine the winner, which will be officially announced on January 11. We’ll also get to find out the Car of the Year winner, with the Genesis G80, Hyundai Elantra, and Nissan Sentra fighting for the crown. In the Truck of the Year category, the Ford F-150 will do battle with the Jeep Gladiator Mojave and the Ram TRX.

Of the three categories, Utility was the most disputed as the remaining three models had to fight some stiff competition coming from the following semifinalists: Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe / Suburban, Chevrolet Trailblazer, Ford Bronco Sport, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Seltos, Kia Sorento, Mazda CX-30, Nissan Rogue, Toyota RAV4 Prime, Toyota Venza, and the Volvo XC40 P8 Recharge.

Last year’s winner of the NACTOY award for the best Utility Vehicle was the Kia Telluride, which managed to obtain more votes from the jurors in the final round than the Hyundai Palisade and Lincoln Aviator. The winners for 2021 will be announced during a new format of the annual event, with details to be disclosed in the coming weeks.

As a refresher, Ford recently updated the Mustang Mach-E lineup with the launch of a GT Performance Edition as the performance pinnacle. Sacrificing some of the range for better electric muscle, the new range topper has 480 horsepower (358 kilowatts) and 634 pound-feet (860 Newton-meters) on tap. While it has the same horsepower as the regular GT variant, torque is up by 34 lb-ft (46 Nm).

The newly added Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition only goes 235 miles (378 kilometers) between charges according to Ford’s estimation, which is 15 miles (24 kilometers) less than the standard GT. For the best range available, there’s one version of the electric SUV that can hit the 300-mile mark (483 kilometers).

Source: North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year

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