OFFICIAL: The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach E isn't a Mustang, but it's a very good EV crossover

Ford Mustang Mach E

The Ford Mustang Mach E looks like it’ll be a very well-engineered electric vehicle that can compete with the best in the segment in range and performance at a price well below the competition. You can get one that’ll go 300 miles on a charge, or go from 0-60 in the mid-three-second range, and you can get all-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive. There’s seating for five inside, the back seats fold almost flat for cargo and there’s even a front trunk—or “frunk,” as the kids call it—that you can hose out with a fire nozzle. And the price? It’s easily half the cost of a Tesla Model X and nearly half the price of a Jaguar iPace. It looks like it’ll clean up in the segment.

But what’s the deal with the name? It shares just about zero percent of its parts with the current Mustang. It sits on all-new architecture, rides on all-new suspension and the only passing resemblance to any Mustang ever made is that blocked-off-grille front end and the semi-wavy hood.

What was Ford thinking?

As if to beat a dead horse (get it?), there were even sincere and profound testimonials from about half the presenters at its introduction about what Mustang meant to them, how their first car was a Mustang, how their first date was in a Mustang, how they were conceived in a Mustang, etc. etc. (the electronics and software guys, on the other hand, had all worked at Ford about five minutes and would probably be at SnapSlap or WeasleWorx by the following week).

In the end, what Ford calls this thing may not matter. Ford may be using the Mustang name to convey performance, which this electric drivetrain will certainly deliver. But will there be any cross-shopping between Mustang buyers and Mach E buyers? They are two wildly different demographics. Anyone buying or thinking about buying a Mustang Mach E can’t be stepping up from a Fox Body 5.0, can they? It wouldn’t be surprising if, within a model year or two, they’ll just be calling it the Mach E and you won’t hear the Mustang nomenclature.

So let’s try to ignore the partially ridiculous name and look at the very sound engineering, electronics and ergonomics that make up this exciting new EV CUV.

In profile there’s more Model X than Mustang.

Mach E on the PCH

Ford insists that this is a new Mustang.

Rear three-quarter does have some Mustang.

Does that grille look like a Mustang?

From here it looks like a Honda Crosstour.

Ford says the Mach E GT Performance Edition is equipped with MagneRide Damping System, an adaptive suspension technology that lets drivers hug the road while delivering an exciting, comfortable ride.  

Mach E shines at night.

Mustang Mach E comes equipped with 19-inch machined-face aluminum wheels with high gloss black-painted
pockets.

That’s the Petersen Automotive Museum in the background.

Mach E on the PCH

A man and his Mach

Charging is easy.

15.5-inch touchscreen features Ford’s first use of Next-Gen Sync.

First look: Ford Mustang Mach E

Ford says that by moving the vehicle’s front wheelbase forward, it was able to give Mustang Mach E the space needed to design its signature hood and aggressive headlights. 

The Mach E’s 15.5-inch touchscreen

Mustang-ish taillights

The door handle is just a little pull bar.

Ford says it’s offering its all-electric vehicle customers North America’s largest electric vehicle public charging network, with more than 12,000 places to charge, including fast charging, and more than 35,000 charge plugs.

Ford is providing two years of complimentary access to North America’s largest network—the FordPass Charging Network—for easy and convenient pay-as-you-drive charging. The FordPass Charging Network includes more than 12,000 charging stations with more than 35,000 plugs.

Ford says that through FordPass on a mobile device or in each vehicle’s on-screen dashboard, customers will be able to monitor charging at home and easily find and pay for one-stop charging at FordPass Charging Network stations.

The 48-amp Ford Connected Charge Station can fully power a vehicle overnight, adding an estimated average range of 32 miles per charging hour.

Ford presented the Mach E to the press in the very same airplane hangar in Hawthorne, California, in which Tesla showed off its semi and roadster two years before. You had to drive past both Tesla and Space X buildings to get to the place. Clearly, Ford is aiming at both the current Tesla Model X and maybe even the coming Model Y.

The profile of the Mach E is proportionally very similar to that of the Tesla Model X and, depending on your tastes, might even look better. Tesla does boast a greater range at 328 miles maximum to Ford’s “300-plus” miles. And if you load up your Tesla with all the performance options you can get to 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds, perhaps a second quicker than the Ford. But with a starting price of $43,895 compared to the Model X’s entry-level $85,990, Ford has a tremendous advantage over Tesla. Likewise, the Jaguar iPace, while a thrilling performer, starts at right around $70K, a good 26 grand more than the Ford—and the Ford has more room inside. Same with the Audi etron.

The Mach E rides on Ford’s all-new battery-electric vehicle architecture. There was no repurposing an existing vehicle to fit a big battery tray, certainly not a Mustang. This was built to be a better BEV from the beginning. The flat battery packs ride in a framework under the crossover, filling the space from front to rear. The liquid-cooled pouch batteries come in two sizes: 75.7 kWh for the standard range (230 miles to 270 miles) and 98.8 kWh for the Premium and California Rt. 1 models with up to 300 miles of range.

A display Ford showed us featured two electric motors. The larger, rear-wheel drive motor was listed as a 210-kW permanent magnet electric motor. It will mount between the rear wheels. A second, smaller motor in the display was listed as a 50-kW motor that will power the front wheels in the AWD Mach Es. Front and rear motors operate completely independently of each other as needed.

On a chart found on the Mach E reservation website, power output varies depending on model and drivetrain configuration, from 255 hp and 306 lb-ft of torque in the entry level Select model to 333 hp and 429 lb-ft in the First Edition model. A press release we got at the intro briefing goes further, listing output of the GT model at 459 hp and 612 lb-ft of torque, after you convert all those kWs. Of course, it’s the GT model Mach E that gets to 60 in the threes.

There are three different driving modes, or “driving experiences”: whisper, engage and unbridled (originally unbridled was going to be called stampede, but maybe that sounded a little too out of control). Whisper is supposed to offer a “calm and serene” driving experience, Ford said. Engage tightens the steering and cranks up the accelerator pedal response and audible output. Unbridled cranks it all up even more.

One-pedal driving offers enough accelerator and regen control that it’ll take you all the way down to 0 mph in stop-and-go traffic, Ford promises. While government regs require an external sound from all EVs to warn pedestrians, Ford had a little fun with that both inside and outside the cockpit, with programmable sounds piped into the cabin to add to your sense of performance driving, even though the electric motors are almost silent if left unamplified. You can crank up “a higher level of propulsion sound” in unbridled mode or dial it down to nothing in whisper mode.

Inside, the biggest news is the large, Tesla-like touchscreen that dominates the dash. But while Tesla’s is 17 inches diagonally, the Ford’s is only 15.5. Regardless, it’s big enough. The Mach E will be the first Ford to get the next generation of Ford’s Sync. We got to see a little demo, and it looked like a pretty handy infotainment interface. You can load up to six “cards” of your most commonly used functions into a big scroll bar on the lower half of the screen, swiping left or right and tapping to bring them up. Other apps are accessible, too. It will learn your habits, too, and ask if you want to go to the gym, since you do that every Monday at 5:15 pm, things like that.

“This is not just a larger screen with colorful graphics—it gets to know you,” said the Ford Sync guy. “This is effectively a giant phone.”

You can tell Sync, starting with the opening line, “OK, Ford,” to initiate many different tasks, from calling your dry cleaner to routing you to a specific destination. Your actual phone rests on a wireless charging spot. Any improvements to the system will be loaded to it via OTA, or over the air, updates. There’s even a physical dial at the bottom of the screen for volume adjustments to the audio.

For charging your Mach E, you get a charge cable that plugs into both 120- and 240-volt power. At purchase, Ford will also add—and you can finance—a wall-mounted home charging station called Ford Connected. Ford will connect you with a licensed electrician to set it up through Amazon Home.

The navigation system will tell you where charging stations are when you’re on the road. The FordPass Charging Network allows you access to more than 12,500 charging stations across the country, because the Mach E will be sold in all 50 states. Charging is on Ford for the first two years, which is mighty nice of them.

I got a short ride in the front passenger seat of a Mach E while a Ford engineer drove. It did, in fact, accelerate briskly. In one launch demo I counted five seconds to 60, for whatever that’s worth. It was not a GT model so five seconds wasn’t bad. We even did a slalom and I found that the Mach E cornered surprisingly flat for an SUV. Likewise, dive and squat were minimal under heavy braking or throttle-stomping (“It’s not a throttle, it’s an accelerator!!!”). External and internal “sounds” could be switched on or off or anywhere in between. They were not intrusive, even in the unbridled setting, but I preferred them off. The panoramic roof didn’t squeak and the amount of light it let in on a sunny day was not oppressive. The interior felt less stark than the Model X, almost more comfy. But the only Model Xs I’ve ever been in were top of the line trim levels. The Ford had some soft fabrics all around. I might just prefer the Mach E to the X, regardless of price.

The First Edition and Premium Edition models arrive late in 2020, with the GT coming to showrooms in spring of 2021. If quality is anywhere near good—and it should be—Tesla has a strong competitor in the Mach E.

Just drop the Mustang part of the name, Ford.

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