Car review – Ford Mustang Mach-E
Confidently over the bar
We finally got our hands on Ford's long-awaited electric crossover. It sets the bar high but clears it with grace and confidence.
Mustang, you say?
If you give a car the Mustang logo, you create high expectations. Fundamentally, though, this isn’t a GT coupé or convertible, but a sporty crossover. And an electric one at that.
On paper, this Mach-E certainly lives up to expectations in terms of performance. The economic reality limits the range to four versions. You can choose between rear-wheel drive (RWD) and all-wheel drive (AWD) and between the standard battery (78 kWh) or the larger battery (99 kWh). Depending on your choice, you get 258 hp, 285 hp or 338 hp to play with.
À la carte
You have three drive modes to choose from: Whisper, Active and Untamed. There’s no difference when it comes to available power: it’s 100% for all three, but the throttle response differs in how aggressive it is. With the Untamed there is also a fake V8-like sound, but you can turn that off. Each drive mode also has a different degree of regenerative braking and can be tailored to your preferences in various areas, turning the driving into a true à la carte experience.
Thanks to the phenomenal infotainment system, you can also enjoy a highly customised user experience. The dashboard is dominated by a kind of mega-iPad that serves 99% of the functions. Luddites might be a bit put off, but you’ll get the hang of it by swiping, scrolling and tapping. Thankfully, there are also some physical buttons, for example for the radio volume and certain driving functions.
Quick on the bends
To get this stallion to corner as firmly planted as possible – without turning it into a racehorse – the makers opted for fairly rigid joints, especially at the back. This means the Mach-E loves a fast corner and also gets a bit of poetic licence from the ESP, without it ever becoming unsafe. There’s no shortage of self-confidence here.
Unfortunately, this badge of honour also has its downside. On bad roads, the Mach-E feels much less at ease, with the rear suspension especially showing its grumpy side with the occasional stamping of hooves. It’s something you can live with, but don’t count on the comfort of a classic crossover. Adaptive dampers with a comfort setting could be the way around this.
Daily driver
You can certainly use this Mach-E as a daily driver. It offers enough space, also in the back (for two people at least) and has a spacious boot. The seats are pretty good and surprisingly soft, somewhat compensating for the hard damping. However, some more lateral support and additional controls wouldn’t have gone amiss.
On the motorway, good aerodynamics create a wonderful in-car silence and lower consumption. We saw the on-board computer stabilise at around 24 kWh/100 km at 120 km/h, so count on a range of about 400 kilometres with frequent motorway use. If you can hold your horses while driving the Mustang Mach-E, you’ll be rewarded with a consumption of around 16 kWh/100 km.
