The Mustang Mach-E is Ford's most important launch in decades
The first of 14 electrified Fords that will come to Europe by the end of 2020 has arrived with a 370-mile range on the top-spec version and a top speed of 111mph across the board
By Alistair Charlton
The Mustang Mach-E is not Ford's first electric car. That honour goes to a dubiously designed plug-in version of the Focus which filled its boot with batteries and sold just a few thousand units
earlier this decade. But, that small footnote aside, the Mustang Mach-E is Ford's first purpose-built electric car, designed from day one to be battery-powered and unlike anything else the company has to offer.
Revealed in Los Angeles on Sunday night, the Mach-E is not a Mustang in the traditional sense. It is not a muscle car born to smoke its tyres between the lights of Sunset Boulevard, nor can we imagine Steve McQueen powersliding a highland green example around San Francisco.
No, instead Ford is playing safely by 2019's automotive rulebook and pitching the Mustang Mach-E as a family-friendly SUV, albeit one with a few styling cues giving a nod towards its more evocative bloodline. Of note, it is also represents the first expansion of the Mustang line in its 55-year history.
Some will now surely call out a Mustang SUV - worst still, an electric Mustang SUV - as sacrilege of the highest order, but brand purists did the same when Porsche slapped the face of a 911 onto the Cayenne SUV, then soon got over it.
So, Ford's first proper electric car is an on-trend SUV, one which Ford is intent on reminding everyone about its heritage. Design-wise, for example, the Mach-E's lights fore and aft are similar to those of the Mustang muscle car.
It should be said though that the Mustang Mach-E is also more than a token attempt at electrification; instead, Ford has an entire range right from the get-go. This means two battery pack size options (75 and 99 kWh), three power outputs ranging from 258 to 337 metric horsepower, the option of rear- or all-wheel-drive, two optional technology packs, and a special 'First Edition' model available in limited numbers, a unique colour, and with every option box ticked.
The Mach-E is also the first of 14 electrified Fords which will come to Europe by the end of 2020. It may be a little late to the plug-in party, but Ford looks eager to make up on lost time.
While the exterior and its Mustang influence could well divide initial opinion, the interior is on par with what we've all come to expect from a new electric car. The dashboard has few tactile buttons and instead relocates most controls to a Tesla-like portrait-orientated, 15.5-inch touchscreen on top of the centre console and running an updated version of Ford's Sync infotainment system, with twice the power of its predecessor.
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As has become the norm, this tablet is used to control media, phone, navigation and climate, and Ford says the Mustang Mach-E will receive over-the-air software updates. Also standard on all models of Mustang Mach-E is a second, 10.2-inch display which sits behind the steering wheel and replaces all traditional dials with pixels.
Optional extras include a 10-speaker sound system by Bang & Olufsen, traffic-sign recognition, parking assistance with a 360-degree camera, Active Drive Assist to keep you centred in your lane, and a full-length panoramic roof so the cabin gets plenty of natural light.
The range-topping Mustang Mach-E First Edition gets all of these options as standard, plus exclusive 'Grabber Blue Metallic' colour
option, the largest battery and the most powerful motors.
Also new on the technology front is a keyless system where your smartphone unlocks the car when you approach it, just like the Tesla Model 3. Alternatively, you can tap a PIN into the B pillar behind the front door to unlock, then tap a second code into the touchscreen to start the car - handy if your phone battery dies.
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Much like other electric cars - Porsche Taycan notwithstanding - Ford makes a point of how the Mustang Mach-E can be driven with one pedal, as the regenerative braking of the permanent magnet electric motors slows the car to such an extent when you lift the accelerator, that the brake pedal is rarely needed.
That other cornerstone of electric car design, the front boot/trunk,
is also present and correct, with a useful 100 litres of stowage space under the bonnet. There's another 402 litres behind the rear seats, and a further 1,000 if you fold them down.
All-important range is up to a claimed 370 miles for the rear-wheel-drive Mach-E with the larger 99 kWh battery and using the WLTP test cycle. This is just short of the 379 miles of the Tesla Model S Long Range, but more than the estimated 336 miles of the Model Y, which will likely be a closer match to the Ford.
Whichever way you cut it, these stats underline how other legacy car makers like Jaguar and Audi need to improve range. That said, lesser models of Mustang Mach-E achieve between 260 and 335 miles between trips to the charger. Once there, owners will be able to refill their batteries at up to 150kW, and access what Ford says is the largest network of public charging stations in Europe, amounting to over 125,000 charging stations across 21 countries.
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Ford can make this claim without installing a single charger of its own because its new FordPass Connect service lets owners plug into chargers from a wide range of providers, including the ultra-fast chargers from the Ionity consortium, of which Ford is a founding member.
Charging speeds can't match the 270kWh rate of the Porsche Taycan, but Ford claims filling the Mach-E from 10 to 80 percent takes 38 minutes for the 75kWh battery and 45 minutes for the 99kWh battery. The company also claims up to 93 kilometres (58 miles) of range within 10 minutes.
Much like Teslas and other electric cars, the Mustang Mach-E's navigation system knows where chargers are and will incorporate stops to fill up the battery into its routing. Points of interest are also highlighted, giving you something to do while you wait for the car to charge. Alas, that giant touchscreen doesn't have any Tesla-style games to while away the time.
A pumped-up GT version arrives at a later date, with 465PS, 830Nm of torque, and a targeted 0-62mph time of sub-five seconds. But until then, Ford isn't using the Mustang name as an excuse to serve up ludicrous acceleration figures. Instead, while brisk enough for an SUV, even the hottest models of Mach-E take a claimed "less than seven seconds" to reach 62 mph, with the entry-level, rear-wheel-drive model a second slower. Top speed is 111mph across the board.
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All models of Mach-E have three drive modes, called Whisper, Engage and Unbridled. Each has different steering weight, vehicle responsiveness, ambient lighting and sound, the latter Ford says is tuned for "an all-electric experience". Torque vectoring is on hand to shift power between the front and rear axle to improve traction and stability.
We are pleased to see a relatively low kerb weight, with the base model sneaking under the two-tonne mark at 1,993kg. The range-topper increases this by a little over 200kg, taking it beyond the Jaguar I-Pace but still well short of the positively porky 2.56-tonne Audi e-tron.
Having not capitalised on its early move to electric back in 2011 with the Focus - and without an enticing range of innovative plug-in hybrids on offer - Ford needs the Mustang Mach-E to be a success. It needs to kickstart Ford's second attempt at electrification, and do so without tarnishing the treasured Mustang name.
A lot, as ever, will come down to value. If the Mach-E gets a blue-collar price, then it has every opportunity to take the mid-price EV fight to Volkswagen.
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