I respectfully disagree. I view styling like powertrain choice. I believe most of us would agree that having only EV, or only ICE, or only hybrids is a mistake because you're not setting your product apart from others, and you're not hedging against inevitable changes in the industry. When everything is an ev, EVs lose that special uniqueness.    Its like that with styling, but to an even more extreme degree. Everything is a boxy utility now. Ford offers a lot of boxy utilities, the expedition, explorer, bronco, and BS, they're pretty covered. I'll add doing boxy rugged utilities is the in thing right now that virtually every brand is doing, it's the trend, no longer the thing that differentiates because everyone is doing it.    Ford should offer a variety of styling, more traditional timeless designs with their icons like bronco and mustang, more radical and futuristic designs with their EVs. Some boxy, some curvy. So that instead of having this generic lineup where everything is just a boxy design with similar cues and they just vary in size, you have this rich vibrance where you can buy a sexy coupe suv, or a boxy rugged badass off-road bronco, or a mustang with muscle car design, or a futuristic looking hatchback EV.    That's my dream, one where every Ford model is special because it does something differently than the other. By comparison, a future where everything is a box and the only thing setting them apart is one is a foot longer than the other, that does nothing for me, Ford deserves better than that. 

To each their own, the mach-e is a super attractive utility imo. It looks better than a lot of the boxy utilities to my eye. Things like the bronco look good, but the sante Fe is an example of boxy designs looking like warmed over ass. It's not really the form structure, boxy or curvy, but rather the execution that impacts the attractiveness. There are good and bad looking examples from both camps. 

I personally view the mach-e as one of Ford's best looking utilities. Which is why I would prefer a design that sticks close to that. The design of the mach-e has been a huge win for it, so I think Ford should apply that to other models.    I also don't really view curvy styling as a risk if it looks sporty and attractive, blob curvy styling is another matter entirely. I believe Ford already has the boxy ute audience pretty well covered with BS, the full sized bronco, and expedition. Even the explorer is pretty boxy. I don't believe escape should become a boxy shape because that hurts its differentiation if it's like the rest of Fords utility designs. Having a mix of boxy and curvy gives each product its own identity, differentiates it, and hedges bets against changes in consumer styling preferences. 

"Mid-$20000 range" is VERY loose. Technically, $20000.01 to $29999.98 is "mid-$20000 range". Let's assume a standard base model comes in at $25k. OK, that's great, I'm much more interested in the rest of the story. Other than the folks who are fine with manual windows/locks/etc*, how much for one a normal person would actually want to own?   *There's plenty out there. I see them frequently. Precisely zero of the ones I see have any interest in any vehicle that doesn't have a gas motor.

Slate Wants $300 From EV Truck Buyers Before Revealing The Final Price - Autoblog   Slate Auto has officially announced it will open its order books on June 24 for its highly anticipated electric pickup truck. However, the ambitious EV startup is asking buyers to commit real money before knowing the exact final sticker price, a Slate Forums post reveals. The company currently promises a starting price in the mid-$20,000 range, with the official pricing numbers dropping on the same day orders go live.   This next phase requires customers to submit a $300 non-refundable deposit, though existing reservation holders can credit their initial $50 fee toward the total. More than 160,000 eager hand-raisers will have a strict 30-day window to lock in their priority delivery slots. This transition marks the latest chapter in a wild four-year journey for a company whose initial target was upended by shifting federal tax credit policies.

I thought a lot about this because of how oddly unappealing I find the Mach E, and also Stellantis’s recent investor day. The super curvy styling on compact and larger crossovers kinda sucks! Because of the extra height you inevitably make a sleek design look fat and blobby, I am not sure it really works outside of (hyperbole) the Ferrari Purosangue. If you want to do a real fastback design it has to in my opinion be some sort of subcompact, borderline a lifted hatchback like the Subaru Crosstrek or what the Chrysler Arrow (rebadged Fiat Grizzly) will be. Those cars are small enough to avoid becoming a blob with the sleek and curvy design (although I will note that neither are actually that curvy and are pretty angular anyway!)  

You can get a Maverick w/ a bed cover or wait for them to bring back the hybrid explorer. I also think that charging infrastructure is at a tipping point of being plentiful enough.

Good news for their 3 dealers left in the country 

With our snowbirding lifestyle (no plug-in capability at the condo) a BEV just doesn’t work for us but the Escape PHEV is perfect. I hope ford will have something for us when it is time to replace the 2023 Escape. Even a conventional HEV would be okay.

I understand what you're saying, but 2 thoughts here:   1) you keep posting this same rendering that just looks like a slightly squished Mach E/isn't differentiated enough IMO 2) The curvy styling in the segment seems risky.     It's worth noting that the competition has "boxed out" their products too - Rav 4 now has a blocky front end and more chunky styling elements.  CR-V has also gained a squarer front end.     I'd advocate pulling styling cues from Explorer before I'd push Mach-E styling.