Last week I got that ‘back to the future’ feeling when I sat into the new Ford Puma Gen-E, which is a fully electric car. The dash in the interior reminded of old reliable Ford cars, like the Mondeo, Focus and Fiesta where the controls were so easy to use and the first item you saw when you started the car was the list of radio stations.
It even had a good old-fashioned button to control the radio volume, which was really appreciated.
In recent years, Ford has changed direction and gone are the old reliables that I have mentioned above and in their place came the Explorer and EV version of the Capri. Now the Puma Gen-E is one of the few small cars in the Ford range available in Ireland.
The range in the Explorer was around 600km, while the top of the range Capri version offered a range of 620km. But sadly, the range in the Puma is around 340-350km, on a good day, which is much the same as the range in the Mach-E, which wasn’t a big seller in Ireland.
It’s a really cute car to look at and I think this is the first time that Ford has used white lettering on their famous blue oval logo. The lights at the front reminded me a bit of the Nissan Micra.
Ford has strong connections with Ballinscarthy in west Cork, but traditionally Ford cars have also been good sellers in the UK. We are told that over the past two years, 200,000 units of the Puma were sold in the UK.
Those of you who like your pop music trivia might remember that Sandie Shaw’s father worked at the Ford plant in Dagenham. And of course, Cork had its own Dagenham Yanks; Corkonians who moved to Dagenham in the forties and fifties to work on the Ford assembly line there. When they came home at Christmas they were known as Dagenham Yanks.
The dash, as mentioned above, is very neat and user-friendly. With most new electric cars there is no start/stop button, you simply engage the drive mode, put your foot on the accelerator and away you go. But the Puma does have a start/stop button on the dash.
The Puma fits somewhere between a Focus and Kuga. In the back there is room for two adults in comfort or three children.
One of the big selling points with the Puma Gen-E is the massive Giga Box in the boot which can hold a multitude of items. But why don’t Ford give us a spare wheel as standard?
Last week in the car park of a DIY store, one of my tyres made contact with a rather long screw and I got a puncture. No spare wheel and having never used a repair kit previously, I called AA who solved the problem. I’m told that most car dealers now offer free roadside assist with new car sales, so that resolves the problem of no spare wheel.
Prices start at €32,816, while the top of the range version will cost you €34,647.
That experience with the spare wheel didn’t spoil my memory of my time in the Puma Gen-E. But please Mr Ford, think of all your relations in Ireland and bring back a few more affordable cars like the Focus or Fiesta, we don’t mind if they are electric.
