The all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E is the first production Ford ever developed from the ground up to deliver pure-electric driving. But my Ford Mustang loving daughter told me on multiple occasions during the week that I had the Mach-E, “Mum, it’s not a Mustang!”
The Mach-E is a very capable electric vehicle (EV) and for me it didn’t need the addition of the Mustang name to achieve its goal of being a performance EV. From my experience, by doing so Ford has created a bit of confusion about what the Mach-E is in the general public. This is exacerbated by the fact that the Mach-E is also the first-ever SUV member of the Mustang family with unique body styling that retains signatures of the petrol-powered Mustang and the famous pony badge.
The Mach-E is available in three grades, Select, Premium, and this GT, which is the top of the range and the Mach-E I drove. The Premium and GT have a 91kWh nickel cobalt manganese battery, which delivers the performance characteristics most aligned with their needs, with the GT having 358kW of power and 860Nm of torque, which is more torque than any production Ford road vehicle ever offered to customers in Australia. The result is the 2.2 tonne Mach-E can do 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.7 seconds making it Ford Australia’s fastest accelerating vehicle.
The claimed WLTP range of the GT is 490km and for my week I used 23.0kWh/100km giving me a potential range of 396kms. The Mach-E only comes with a Type 2-to-Type 2 charging cable and as I don’t have a home charging wall box that meant I had to use public charging infrastructure. Luckily for me my local council has free to use public chargers, and I topped up the Mach-E once during the week I had it, while I was getting my hair done. Ford claims using a 10.5kW AC charger (a wall box at home) will take 10.9 hours to charge the Mach-E GT from 0-100%. The Mach-E can accept up to 150kW DC fast charging and for the GT a 10% – 80% charge will take as little 45 minutes.
The battery drives a dual-motor, all-wheel drive, powertrain with the GT exclusively having MagneRide adaptive suspension and high-performance Brembo braking system. The Mustang Mach-E GT also features unique tyres that are specially designed to distribute the extreme torque to the road surface. The ride in the GT was firm, but not uncomfortable even with the bespoke GT 20-inch alloy wheels.
The drive modes available on the GT include Whisper for a quiet drive with smoother acceleration and steering that is best for slippery conditions. Active is for balanced, everyday fun experience and the mode I spent most of my time in. Untame is there for an exhilarating drive with more responsive acceleration and steering, but I was ever conscious that the heavier I was on the accelerator, the faster I depleted the battery. The one thing I could not find on the GT was the settings for the regenerative braking.
In addition to these drive modes the GT also exclusively gets Untame Plus mode for track use only, which is designed to help drivers balance the powertrain output on a track for lap time consistency by simultaneously adjusting traction and stability control for a more exciting driving experience where conditions allow.
You access the Mach-E on all four doors by pressing the button on the window frame and the drivers door also has keypad entry. The Ford Performance front sports seats are another GT inclusion and I really like the combination of the performance grey Sensico artificial leather with Miko Suede that’s used both on the seats and the door trims. Both front seats are heated and have power adjustment for recline, forward/back, single seat height, and 2-way lumbar support with driver’s seat also having three memory positions. For added comfort on those cold winter mornings the driver will also enjoy the heated steering wheel.
The large portrait 15.5-inch touch screen dominates the cabin and it retains the sketch function to keep you entertained while you may be waiting for the Mach-E to charge. The connected built-in satellite navigation system displays EV charging stations with information about the types of chargers at the site and an indication if the charger is available or not for some sites only. I was also amused by the speed on the digital driver’s dash showing the readout as ground speed, as if air speed may also be an option in the GT.
Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connection comes as standard and worked seamlessly for me, which is good because I still find Ford’s infotainment system confusing to navigate. Thankfully as well the voice control worked well for me for making phone calls, changing the radio station, and setting a destination on the sat nav.
All Mach-Es come with a premium B&O 10 speaker sound system with subwoofer and AM/FM radio, DAB+, and Bluetooth. At the front of the centre console is a somewhat awkwardly shaped phone storage ledge with wireless charging and one USB-A and one USB-C port. There’s an additional storage cubby located under this area and the cubby under arm rest has place for key storage and one 12V socket.
The two cup holders in centre console have grippy sides and removable rubber base for the easy wipe up of spills. The front door cubbies are only suitable for short drink bottles and if you needed to store a larger bottle it has to be laid flat. The drink bottle storage in rear door cubbies is also awkwardly shaped and would only accommodate a drink bottle if it is laid flat also.
The rear seats have ample head and leg room for me, but my knees felt a little up in the air so I would have liked some more under thigh support. For younger passengers there are two ISOfix/three rear tether child seat restraint points and the centre seat folds down as an arm rest with two rigid cup holders in the front of it. Rear passengers get two central air vents with individual direction control and one manual air speed controller and below these is one USB-C and one USB-A port. I really like the flat floor in the rear seat footwell and the single carpet mat across it, but I’m not a fan of the fixed panoramic sunroof because it has no blind or electrochromic way to dim the glass.
The Mach-E has front and rear boot storage spaces that can be opened from a button under an infotainment menu. The rear tailgate also has gesture open/close or a button under the tailgate and on the key fob to open/close it. The boot space is adequately sized for a family to use and has four substantial tie down points, two hooks, one 12V socket and one light. The boot floor is removable with extra storage space under it for the tyre repair kit and charging cord. If more space is required the rear seats have a 60/40 split fold mechanism with the release located on the seat shoulders.
Mustang Mach-E Select and Premium grades have a five-star (2021) ANCAP safety rating, but the GT is unrated. The GT does come standard with driver and passenger, front fide, rear side, full length curtain and driver knee airbags. Along with autonomous emergency braking with car-to-car, vulnerable road user, junction assist, and back-over functionality, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, emergency lane keeping and adaptive cruise control. The standard rear view camera is combined with 360 degree surround view camera, front and rear parking sensors, and it emits a quiet bong when reversing. There’s also auto lights and auto wipers for convenience.
All new Ford models come with a 5 Years/Unlimited Kilometres warranty and the Mach-E battery is covered for 8 years or 160,000 km, whichever comes first, retaining a minimum of 70% of its original capacity over that period. Ford National Roadside Assistance & Auto Club Lifestyle Membership is available for up to seven years if an eligible General Service is undertaken at a participating Ford Dealer. The service interval for the Mach-E is one year or 15,000kms, whichever occurs first, and the service cost currently alternates from $140 to $180 for odd and even years respectively.
I think muddying the waters of the Mach-E with the inclusion of the Mustang name was an unnecessary marketing ploy by Ford, because the performance on offer from this EV speaks for itself. Pricing for the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT starts at $107,665 excluding on-road costs and it is available in seven eye-catching colours with Shadow Black being a standard paint colour and all other prestige paint colours, including this appropriately named Grabber Blue, costing $700. You can Build and Price yours online or visit your preferred Ford dealer for more information.
| Pros | Cons |
| The driving performance | Its confused identity |
| Speed readout of driver’s dash is expressed as ground speed | Only comes with a Type 2-to-Type 2 charging cable |
| Flat rear floor with single carpet mat covering it | The fixed panoramic sunroof has no blind |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.