Used 2021 Ford Mustang MACH-E

Ford will offer 40 new battery-electric vehicles (including pure EVs, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids) in the coming years, thanks to an infusion of cash of more than $1 billion. And the Mach-E will be leading that charge. It rides on an all-new electric vehicle architecture where the lithium-ion battery cells ride beneath the floor in a skateboard-type design.

It’s a smart move to develop the Mach-E first. That’s because this 5-passenger midsize crossover is part of the Mustang family, so it has the heritage and the promise of performance to draw in consumers. It also has an SUV shape and offers the practicality that appeals to families. And finally, Ford made sure that the Mach-E can go a long distance before it needs to recharge. How far? Read on.

The rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Mustang Mach-E with a standard 68 kWh battery can travel 230 miles before charging. All-wheel drive (AWD) draws more energy and lowers that number to 211 miles. The rear-drive Mach-E with the 88 kWh extended-range battery can go 300 miles on a charge. That’s huge. That figure lowers slightly to 270 miles with all-wheel drive.

The high-performance GT (coming later in 2021) is good for 250 miles (or 235 miles with the Performance Edition). Those are all reasonable numbers. The extended-range models match or exceed the range of many top EVs — including Tesla’s Model Y.

The Mach-E’s mission has to include some thrills — this is a Mustang, after all. So, it’s available in five trim levels: Select, Premium, First Edition, California Route 1, and the high-performance GT. Each one of these cars is relatively quick. Rear-drive models use a 210-kW electric motor at the rear axle, and all-wheel-drive models add an additional 50 kW motor to the front axle. The GT models have up-sized motors.

The horsepower ratings and 0-60 mph times do vary between the models. The good news is, none are slow. For example, a base Select rear-drive model has 260 horsepower and will hit 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. But a Premium extended-range with all-wheel drive has 346 horsepower and will run to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds. The GT is the beast of the bunch, with 480 horsepower and a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds. The GT’s Performance Edition drops that acceleration time further to 3.5 seconds, placing it in the hunt with Tesla’s quickest Model Y.

The Mach-E uses a large 15.5-inch central touchscreen that comes standard. Want to change the car’s driving personality? Just touch the little Mustang icon in the upper left corner. That enables three modes: Whisper, Engage, and Unbridled to match your mood. The screen looks upscale and works well. And Ford’s Sync4A infotainment system is standard on Mach-E, which includes navigation.

The Mach-E is larger than one might think. The 5-passenger SUV rides on a wheelbase that’s more than 5 inches longer than a Ford Escape, and yet it’s about 3 inches shorter overall. That translates into a roomy interior.

The Mach-E’s cockpit is unlike any other Ford. The view ahead through the laid-back windshield includes the Mach-E’s sculpted hood and fender peaks, so it immediately feels like you’re about to drive something exhilarating. The seating position feels a bit lower and sportier than a typical crossover. And the surroundings are like a small step into the future. It’s very cool.

The new 15.5-inch screen works as easily as our iPhone. The whole interior is generally a very thoughtful execution with plenty of storage.

We spent the majority of our drive in a Premium model with all-wheel drive and an extended-range battery. And this car is plenty entertaining. In the most involving Unbridled mode, the steering gets slightly heavier, the throttle sharpens, and the Mach-E launches hard from a stop with a growling soundtrack that matches the experience.

Whisper mode is at the other end of the spectrum and transforms the Mach-E into an easy daily commuter with a softer throttle pedal, lighter steering, and mostly — silence. Engage is a nice middle ground and the mode we’d likely spend most of our time in.

You can turn the faux sounds on or off and engage one-pedal driving for a heavy regenerative brake feel. The conventional friction brakes can feel like they grab a little too quickly until you get used to them over the course of a driving day.

The Mach-E’s chassis is up to the job of providing smiles when the road twists. The Macpherson strut front and multi-link rear suspensions are tuned for hard cornering, so they are firm. This is a car that can handle quite a bit of speed in the canyons. In Unbridled mode, you can even hang the tail of the car out a little. But when pushed, the tires do lose grip before the suspension’s ultimate potential. Wider tires with more grip would help but could negatively affect the Mach-E’s range. That’s a line performance EVs have to walk.

In the city, we found ourselves defaulting to Whisper mode most of the time without one-pedal drive engaged. This is the smoothest and least intrusive mode when you just need to get from point to point.

Later we sampled a base Select rear-wheel-drive model around an autocross course and found it equally, if not more entertaining. But to really feel the potential of what the Mach-E can do, we’ll have to wait for some time with the GT and GT Performance Edition. That top model brings sophisticated MagneRide dampers, 20-inch Pirelli summer tires, and the ability to rocket to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.

The Mach-E’s interior is forward-looking, thoughtful, and innovative. It’s a great place to spend time. The big 15.5-inch infotainment screen dominates the dashboard, but the functions work very smoothly. We were comfortable using it within the first five minutes. Once you set up the standard FordPass mobility app with all your information, the car sets all its functions to your preferences, and your personal phone serves as the key. It all worked very well.

The smaller 10-inch screen is perfectly placed within the top open section of the steering wheel and houses only vitals like speed and electric range. It also shows navigation instructions, which is helpful.

The materials Ford uses inside the Mach-E are upscale. Even the base Select model is comfortable. The Premium model does a good imitation of a luxury car interior with contrasting stitching and a nicer feel to everything your hand might touch.

The optional 10-speaker B&O sound system, which comes standard on Premium and First Edition models, is impressive. It not only sounds great, but it looks like it was designed from the beginning to be a part of the Mustang Mach-E interior — which it was.

The Mach-E feels intimate and sporty when you’re driving while also feeling spacious and airy from the backseat. And that’s even more true with the panoramic fixed glass roof. Up front, there’s a comfortable armrest that folds up to provide storage below. There are nooks and bins all over the Mach-E to fit your stuff. And we like that.

The rotary transmission selector is perfectly placed just ahead of that armrest. When sitting in the Mach-E, the feeling you get is that Ford put a lot of thought into this interior to make it look sleek, comfortable, and provide loads of practicality.

The Mache-E has 38.1 inches of rear-seat legroom — a number that all but guarantees even the tallest rider will find comfort. And our 5’11” frame had room to spare for our knees and head. The Mach-E offers good storage, too, with almost 30 cubic feet behind the rear seat and another 4.7 cubic feet up front in that front storage trunk. That frunk has been designed with a drainage system and cupholders so you can use it for tailgating or keeping sweaty workout clothes from defiling the Mach-E’s cabin.

Fold the seats down, and there are 59.7 cubic feet of space. That puts the Mach-E on the same level as smaller compact SUVs. For example, Ford’s own Escape has a maximum cargo capacity of 65.4 cubic feet. And Ford made sure to carve out adequate space at the hatch opening to fit wide items comfortably.

It can’t be easy to design an SUV that truly looks like a Mustang. But to our eyes, Ford has done a really nice job with the Mach-E. The proportions are tight, and there are enough curves in the right places to suggest both “Mustang” and athleticism. The rear view is particularly cool, not just because of the Mustang taillights but because the stubby rear overhang really adds to the fastback look. And the lack of door handles, thanks to Ford’s discreet push-button E-Latch system, keeps the exterior bodysides minimalist.

Take a long look at the car in profile, and it’s soon apparent that the body-color arc that sweeps back from the mid-roofline isn’t really the roof. The actual roof in the rear part of the car is the glossy black section that sits above it. It’s a smart trick that effectively makes the car look lower and sleeker than it actually is while preserving the rear-seat headroom.

On our drive with a Premium all-wheel-drive model, we were stopped twice by some very enthusiastic fans of the car and gawked at by a few more. People dig the way it looks, and so do we.

ACTIVE DRIVE ASSIST
This is Ford’s semi-autonomous driving tech that will become optional as part of the Co-Pilot360 suite of safety systems. Active Drive will allow hands-free driving on certain pre-approved highways. Ford says there are around 100,000 miles of them in the US. The system can detect if the driver is paying attention through a camera system. It even works while wearing sunglasses. So, there’s no need to keep one hand (or finger) on the wheel to tell the system you’re alert.

ONE-PEDAL DRIVE
Unlike some EVs that make it difficult or even impossible to select a very aggressive regenerative braking algorithm and often bundles it with other systems, Ford makes it easy to select One Pedal Drive by itself. Just press the Mustang icon on the touchscreen, and below the drive modes is the One Pedal Drive virtual toggle switch. How does it work? The driver presses down on the throttle to accelerate, and by simply lifting on that pedal, the car will slow to a complete stop using the regenerative brakes. You almost never touch the brake pedal.

Unlike most new cars, the base model Mustang Mach-E, called Select, is packed with a great deal of standard equipment. A rear-drive Select with the standard battery has 230 miles of electric range and wears 18-inch aluminum wheels with all-season tires.

Select models also receive LED signature lights, Ford’s E-Latch electronic doors, FordPass Connect that allows your phone to act as a key, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi connectivity, and USB ports in the front and back.

There’s also Sync4A with navigation and Ford’s Co-Pilot360 suite of safety tech (reverse brake assist, reverse sensing system, blind-spot monitoring with cross-traffic alert, pre-collision assist with auto emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, a rear camera, and auto high beams).

Ford’s Co-Pilot360 Assist also comes standard on the Select models and includes intelligent adaptive cruise control with stop and go, lane centering, intersection assist and speed sign recognition, evasive steering assist, and VR navigation.

The list of options is long, but to make things easy for Ford and the consumer, most of these features are built into one of the five trim levels. Since the First Edition is already sold out, there are really four trims available going forward.

All-wheel drive is an option on the lower Select models and includes a second (front) motor for improved acceleration and traction.

Step up to the Premium model, and there’s the option of an extended-range battery. LED headlights come standard here, as do 19-inch wheels, a hands-free liftgate, and a panoramic fixed-glass roof. There are also “Pony” projector lamps and black mirror caps. Inside, there’s multi-colored ambient lighting, heated front memory seats and steering wheel, B&O sound system, 360-degree camera, Active Park Assist 2.0, and Active Drive Assist Prep Kit. That last one allows you to purchase (for $600) Ford’s latest partial autonomous driving program when it becomes available for an over-the-air download.

The California Highway One model consists of mostly cosmetic upgrades to the exterior, including special badges and 18-inch wheels with covers designed to maximize range.

Aside from increased power, GT models will come with Brembo brakes, 20-inch wheels and tires, a unique lower facia with a splitter, sport seats with copper metallic stitching, and aluminum interior trim.

Other options include a Performance Edition for the GT, which bundles in more power, larger brakes, 245/45R20 Pirelli summer tires, MagneRide dampers, and more.

The new Mustang Mach-E is a powerful EV. The standard rear-drive Mach-E uses one electric motor delivering 266 horsepower and 317 lb-ft of torque. Adding the all-wheel-drive option brings a second smaller electric motor mounted between the front wheels, delivering a total output of 428 lb-ft of torque.

Extended-range models are tuned for increased power, too. Rear-drive models have 290 horsepower, and all-wheel drive delivers 346 horsepower and 428 lb-ft of torque. And, of course, the most potent of the bunch will be the GT models, which have two motors, both of which are upsized from the standard-issue Mustang Mach-E. The standard GT will deliver 480 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque. The Performance Edition is rated at 634 lb-ft of torque.

The Mach-E offers up to 115 kW DC fast charging on the base Select models and up to 150kW charging on the higher trims. Ford says that while charging at home on a 240V (Level 2) charger, owners can expect to gain 20-30 miles per hour depending on the setup.

EPA fuel efficiency for the rear-wheel-drive (RWD) 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E, which has a range of 230 miles, is 105 MPGe city/93 MPGe highway/100 MPGe combined. With a range of 300 miles, the extended-range Mustang RWD Mach-E is rated at 104 MPGe city/90 MPGe highway/97 MPGe combined. MPGe is an equivalent measure of miles per gallon in electric cars.

With AWD, the Mustang Mach-E has a range of 211 miles, and it’s rated by the EPA at 100 MPGe city/86 MPGe highway/93 MPGe combined. With the extended-range battery, the AWD Mustang Mach-E, which has a range of 270 miles, is rated by the EPA at 96 MPGe city/84 MPGe highway/90 MPGe combined.

Mach-E (standard range)
198-kW AC synchronous electric rear motor
66 kWh lithium-ion battery pack
266 horsepower
317 lb-ft of torque (rear-wheel drive)
50-kW AC synchronous electric front motor (all-wheel drive)
428 lb-ft of torque (all-wheel drive)
EPA city/highway fuel economy: 105/93  MPGe (RWD), 100/86 MPGe (AWD)
EPA range: 230 miles (RWD), 211 miles (AWD)

Mach-E (extended range)
216-kW AC synchronous electric rear motor
88 kWh lithium-ion battery pack
290 horsepower (rear-wheel drive)
317 lb-ft of torque (rear-wheel drive)
50 kW AC synchronous electric motor (all-wheel drive)
346 horsepower (all-wheel drive)
428 lb-ft of torque (all-wheel drive)
EPA city/highway: 104/90 MPGe (RWD), 96/84 MPGe (AWD)
EPA range: 300 miles (RWD), 270 miles (AWD)

Mach-E California Route 1
216-kW AC synchronous electric rear motor
88 kWh lithium-ion battery pack
290 horsepower
317 lb-ft of torque
EPA city/highway: 104/90 MPGe (RWD)
EPA range: est. 305 miles (RWD)

Mach-E GT
216-kW AC synchronous electric rear motor
216-kW AC synchronous electric front motor
88 kWh lithium-ion battery pack
480 horsepower
600 lb-ft of torque (634 lb-ft Performance Edition)
EPA city/highway: N/A
EPA range: est. 250 miles (Performance Edition 235 miles)