Agree regarding the interior.  it was way ahead of its time and far nicer than anything else in the Ford lineup at the time.   My mom thought the same - hated the exterior, but loved the interior.

Similar story for my wife.  When the Flex was first revealed, I told her "that's your next vehicle."  She said "Nope!  That's ugly!"  I told her "just wait, you'll see."  We had an Escape and we discussing kid #3 at the time, so we knew we were going to need more room.   When the first one hit the lot at the dealership near us, we went to take a look.  She still didn't like the looks and was still adamant that she was getting it, but once she sat inside, she was sold!  And it drove like a dream! It was so quiet and smooth.  The interior was well ahead of it's time and was luxury-car refined.  We picked it up in the fall of 2008 and she was pregnant with our 3rd child at the time.  That child just turned 17 a few weeks ago...wow how time flies!

The problem with the Flex was getting someone to actually consider one.  We looked at the 2013 Explorer (was going to be my wifes car but also needed to tow our boat) and during the test drive she really did not like the lack of visibility due to excessive A pillar.  I did some research and found that the Flex had the capability we wanted.  The wife said no, I don't like it.  I said well just drive it then if you don't like it we can cross it off the list.  She was hooked after 5 minutes of driving.

1) we knew that already   2) I'm thinking the "hood" is going to be a lot shorter than we're used to on Maverick or other trucks.  Below, I put a red line on the hood to pillar area on 3 different reference points.  Obviously, the patent drawing might not be accurate, but still, we're seeing similarities on the real photos....   3) I think that's just a strip of tape to keep wax from the buffer from getting on the bottom plastic part......not saying there's not a unique lighting element, but I don't know if that's it.    

I think they're looking at all 5 together, saying that there'll be multi-energy across those models (i.e 2 BEVs, 1 hybrid, 1 ICE, etc etc), not multi-energy on individual models.       I'd guess the BEV ones are still targeting that 30k area.  This new announcement saying sub-40k doesn't negate the 30k amount........it just means that as a whole, all of these 5 will all be sub 40k.  Some are 30k, some could be 35k, some could be 39.999k, etc.   And as pointed out, don't forget about the "affordable" truck at TPP....         I mean, Mustang starts at $32,640 for an EcoBoost.  It's not outside the realm of possibility that a base 4-door EcoBoost model could start under $40k..........(and going up quickly from there).

Ford has seemingly mentioned previously what 4 of the 5 will probably be.   CE1 truck The CE1 CUV A small van (CE1?) The affordable pickup that has been discussed on this site.    that leaves one model-maybe an Edge sized SUV?   As an aside I see Borg mentioned a hybrid 4 door Mustang, but I’m sure it won’t be one of the “affordable models”. 

But a fiercely loyal following of those that did buy them. 

No. It was explicitly stated that all the products will be new nameplates, nothing will be "updated" in this context: "the products will all be new nameplates, not redesigns."

Hopefully by multi-energy powertrains, the Ford big shots mean that all five of the new products will offer a pure BEV version, plus other combinations of gasoline, diesel, and electric power within the lineup where appropriate, and none of the EREV only bullshit like they're plannin' to do for next gen F-150 Lightning.

To me it just looks like green painters tape that might be holding up the plastic material at the bottom that is either protecting something while its being detailed or its hiding something in the photo.