We’re spending the week with the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E all-electric crossover.
Our model is a well-optioned Premium trim coated in Space White Metallic over a light gray perforated Active-X interior and equipped with the 300A equipment group, plus some standalone options to boot:
- 19-inch aluminum wheels with painted pockets
- 225/55R19 all-season BSW tires
- Electronic all-wheel drive (e-AWD)
- 88 kWh extended range battery ($5,000)
The MSRP for a base 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD is $49,700. Our Mach-E has $5,000 in options, which combined with the $1,100 delivery fee brings the total MSRP to $55,800.
The Mach-E with the extended range battery and eAWD is rated to produce 346 horsepower and 428 pound-feet of torque and features the single-speed transmission with 88 kWh of usable battery capacity for an EPA estimated 270 miles of range.
We’re spending a week with Ford’s new electric crossover, so if you would like to know more about it, ask your questions in the comments section, and we’ll reply as soon as we can, as part of our interactive review.
Ready… set… go!
We’ll have more on the Mach-E soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Mustang Mach-E news and continuous Ford news coverage.
Comments
Can you explain One-pedal drive?
Sure. When enabled, one-pedal driving allows you to drive the car with only one pedal. The car behaves as expected (normal) when accelerating, but taking the foot off the accelerator begins to slow the vehicle down. The brake pedal will still need to be used to brake during an emergency or situations when quick braking is needed.
Personally, I find one-pedal driving mode to be a bit annoying, and prefer the way the feature is implemented in the Chevy Bolt family instead. Instead of having one-pedal driving on all the time, the Bolts have a paddle behind the steering wheel. Pulling on that paddle engaging the regen on demand feature, thereby braking the vehicle. Letting go of the paddle releases the vehicle and stops it from slowing.
Hope that helps!
How does it run at -20 degrees F?
We’re testing in the Miami area where it’s currently 82 degrees F, so can’t be of much help. That said, we should be getting another Mach-E in the New York area soon, so should be able to do some cold temperature runs then.
Your impressions of noise level?
Noise levels are very low overall.
Around town, NVH is at a minimum. It’s literally whisper quiet.
The same can be said for highway driving, only that wind noise becomes more of a factor on the highway. Whereas wind noise typically takes second place to engine noise at highway speeds in an ICE vehicle, the Mach E’s lack of ICE noises makes wind noise more noticeable. In other words, wind noise is by no means unbearable in the Mach-E, just more noticeable than in an ICE car… so the experience is a bit different. The stock tires (Michelin Primacy AS) are quiet enough. The powertrain does the electric “whir” sounds that are barely noticeable.
Is that 270 miles of range with the “extended range battery” ?
Correct. 270 miles with the extended range battery plus e-AWD.
That goes up to 300 miles for models with the extended range battery and RWD only.
In my area, average price for gasoline id $3.15/gal. How does the cost of recharging compare to the price of refueling??
There is an-depth cost article that we’re developing right now to compare exactly this, but until then, here are some interesting things to consider:
As I write this, the Mach-E is charging using the Electrify America DCFC / CSS charger. It went from 30 percent capacity (around 100 miles) to 80 percent capacity (270 miles) in 30 minutes, which cost $16 USD. That’s 9 cents per mile.
More detailed report incoming.
The extended battery option is $5,000 dollars and the estimated range is only 270-300 miles? That doesn’t seem like much driving range. I’m sure these numbers will improve over time but, for those of us that do a lot of long range freeway driving, 270 miles is going to add a lot of time to the trip. We will constantly be stopping to recharge and that seems to take 45 minutes to an hour.
There don’t seem to be any real hard numbers on what it costs to recharge versus refilling with gasoline.
Here’s my personal opinion: if you’re doing a lot of long-range highway driving, then it might be best to stick with an ICE vehicle. The next generation of Ford EVs should see a healthy improvement in range, which ought to make them more suitable for long-range highway/interstate driving.
I have a Mach E premium with ext battery and rear wheel drive. The only complaint I have is the ride stiffness. On a fairly bumpy road the Mach E bounces like crazy. Any way to alleviate that
Agreed. I noticed this myself. The ride can certainly get bumpy on roads that are not perfect.
what is your real-world DC fast recharging times to get to 100mi range and full charge? Lots of charging issues during MachE launch so looking to see if they improved
Using DCFC, I was able to go from 38 percent charge (100 miles of range) at 12:28 pm to 80 percent (220 miles of range) at 12:51 pm. So that’s 23 minutes. From there, it would have taken another two hours to go to 100 percent / 270 miles, since charging slows considerably after the 80 percent mark.
I wasn’t able to go lower than that charge due to not having a charger at home and the distance from my home to the charger.
Besides the electric car questions, how does the Mach E work in day to day SUV operation (ease of loading, size of rear compartment with seats up and down, etc.)
It works quite well. The trunk is spacious enough and the hatch opening is quite large – the size of the trunk, in fact. I was able to transport my hockey gear (big bag, two sticks) with the smaller section of the rear seat folded with no problem. I was also able to transport a large holiday decoration in an open box with the rear seats folded. The rear seats fold flat and the operation is done via a manual latch near the headrests. All in, I would say the amount of space is comparable to the 2020 and newer Ford Escape.
I particularly liked the way designers tricked the eye into thinking the roof slopes faster than it actually does. This was accomplished via the integration of the rapidly sloping body-color roof line with the black “roof rails”, which continue to be more upright/traditional.
The ActiveX seats are perforated, but not ventilated. I believe the fixed glass roof has no sun shade and does not open to let greenhouse-effect hot air to escape. My question is simple, hot hot does the interior cabin get? Is the temp inside better, same or worse versus vehicle with their sunshade closed?
Also, the extended range battery WITHOUT AWD is an elusive configuration. We really don’t need and don’t want the added expense of AWD. Are any being built?
Great questions!
Vented seats should absolutely be offered, since it falls in line with the mantra of efficient cabin management in an EV (not using the HVAC system but more efficient spot heating/cooling).
The lack of a sunshade doesn’t seem to impact cabin temperatures. The only thing that isn’t ideal is when I wanted to remove more of the overhead sunlight while driving or when parked. For instance, I spent a healthy amount of time at a Walmart DCFC/CCS charging station, during which time I relocated to the front passenger seat and worked on my laptop. The coating on the roof does a good job to remove a healthy amount of sunlight but doesn’t remove it completely… causing glare on the laptop screen. Now, it’s much better than doing this exercise in a convertible with the roof is open, but I would have preferred a sunshade. Incidentally, a sunshade would have added complexity and weight, the latter being an enemy to EV range.
Can’t comment on whether any Mach-E units are being built without AWD but with the extended range battery. Will need to circle back on that one.
How do you get over the air upgrades?
I didn’t get any with my time in the Mach-E, but from what I’ve seen, a notification lets the owner know when an OTA update becomes available.
Everyone talks about the vehicle but what about the charging requirements? Is there a “package” that has to be installed for home charging? What are the requirements for the charging circuit? Does it have to be indoors or can it be outdoors? In other words, what do i need to charge this vehicle at home and how much will that cost me in addition to the vehicle?
I ordered my Mach E inJune how longer will it be
George – sorry, but I can’t help with this. Your dealer is your best bet.
Are there special steps to take to drive the Mach E through a car wash?
From what I know, there’s nothing specific that needs to be done to run the Mach-E through the wash.
The owner’s manual (PDF page 292, actual page 288) says to remove any exterior accessories (such as antennas) before entering the car wash, but makes no specific mention of electric vehicles and washing. The bit about removing exterior accessories seems like boilerplate and does not seem to apply to the Mach-E, since the only antenna it has is the roof-mounted fin.
How do I enroll in the 2 Mustang Bullits prize giveaway?
I have a extended range battery and AWD on my Mach-E GT. When fully charged it shows 217 mils of range. What gives? I expected it to show 270 mils of range?
That’s strange. Mine showed 220 miles at 80 percent charge. Maybe there’s a programming issue. I would take it to the dealer.
Why did we only get one key fob when we purchased our 2021 Mach-E? They make us use the FordPass App as the extra key. That doesn’t always work. You can get into the car, but when you go to start the car it says “ No key detected”. The 2022 models now are coming with 2 key fobs. The 2021 models in the UK also got 2. No one seems to agree to get us an extra fob.
I own a 2021 Mach-E GT Performance Edition. For autocross in the new EVX class, I intend to run wider tires (275/40R20). I’ve ordered two 10″×20″ wheels with a 47 mm offset for test-fit purposes. I know they’ll fit on the back, but can I run these on the front as well? Or will I have to do some fender-lip rolling to get enough tire clearance during hard cornering?