After the episode about the Ford Mustang Mach-E's rear drive unit (see here), Munro Live's Sandy Munro recently shared his opinions about the front drive unit.
As it turns out, the front-drive unit, which consists of a permanent magnet electric motor, single-speed gearbox and inverter, is much better than the rear one, and beats solutions from other EVs.
The design is really impressive and Sandy Munro is blown away by how intelligently it has been put together.
Starting with the gearbox, there is a lot of advanced engineering with complex forged parts that simplifies the assembly.
The electric motor (permanent magnet rotor with hairpin winding in the stator) is well integrated with the gearbox and can use the general cooling circuit (no separate pump, oil or filter).
The inverter is especially well designed, tremendously easier to assemble, compared to the one in the rear, by just a single person and only one welding stop.
It's proof that an external supplier (in this particular case - Magna/LG, according to Munro Live) also can deliver outstanding solutions.
It will be interesting to see Ford's in-house designs later this decade and how they will compare to other EVs as there is still a lot of untapped potential.
Update (final summary):
See also
Previous episodes related to the Ford Mustang Mach-E:
- Teardown: beginning, thermal system, doors off, door modules and rear interior, ABC pillars and door hinges, front/SORB test, seats, battery removal, underneath the instrument panel and composite liftgate, battery pack, suspension & high voltage wire comparison, thermal system comparison to the Model Y, battery cell and module plus thermal system components, high voltage connectors, body in white, rear drive unit, front drive unit, ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems)
- Review: first impressions, frunk, undercarriage front and rear, ride & drive, and wrap-up