If you want to start trouble, take a Mach-E to a Ford Mustang owner’s group and announce the electric crossover is your favorite pony of all time. You’ll likely get booed. I said something like that to my best friend while stoked with bourbon and riding in his new sinister black Mustang coupe. He’s still laughing, but may be wrong.
Imagine it snowed 8 inches last night, but you still need to drop kids at school and get to work on time. No problem; load up band instruments – or sleds – and get going. The idea of a Mustang being just a weekend toy vanishes. And there will be no standing in frigid temperatures at the gas station either. You’ll enter the Mach-E fully charged with a heated cabin.
This isn’t your typical Mustang, but it’s familiar.
Designers stretched Mustang design cues over a five-door crossover. A wide stance and long arching roofline imbue classic proportions while riding over 19” wheels filling voluptuous fenders and kicked-up rear haunches. The Pony “grille” fronts a sealed frunk for additional storage while angled triple-barrel taillamps recall history – even if they’re under a hatchback. Push button door releases are hidden in black pillars. I could have seen our car’s Adriatic Blue-Green paint on a 1990s Mustang.
Most of the similarly sized crossovers I’ve driven recently are futuristic wonders, but all you can see beyond the flatscreen gauges is the base of a dramatically sloping windshield. The Mustang is different with flatscreen gauges close to the steering wheel and a view of that curvy hood ahead of you. There’s a large 15.5-inch screen proud of the center dash, but it feels more intimate with electronics doing nothing to diminish the experience.
Our Premium grade skipped the glass roof, but spoiled everybody with heated and ventilated front seats, 10-speaker B&O audio and thickly wrapped heated steering wheel. The charging pad adds convenience, but it’s easy to connect phones via USBs or through wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Rear headroom is a little tight, as is space beneath the power hatch, but split-fold rear seats grant cargo space when needed. A flybridge console stacks storage up front.
And yet, its electric powertrain makes it a better Mustang. Step on the accelerator to feel 346 horsepower and instant 500 lb.-ft. of torque whoosh you to 60 mph in just 4.8 seconds – plenty brisk to jump onto freeways. Base models come with rear-drive and 320 miles range, but our AWD version posts a healthy 300 miles. Fast charge in 40 minutes or on a 240v home charger in 10 hours. A NACS adapter allows access to Tesla Supercharger stations.
Suspension calibrations soak up rough pavement while maintain composure when tossed. It rumbles over broken pavement with neither squeak nor creak. It’s not a sports car, so track days are not a thing, but where Mustang coupes bang over bumps and doors clang shut, the Mach-E feels luxury car refined.
It’s pretty safe too with standard automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, and rear auto brake. Add Ford’s hands-off BlueCruise system for highway driving. Keep eyes ahead, but relax with a soda or coffee.
While Mustang traditionalists may not appreciate the Mach-E, it’s a really good electric crossover that’s a joy to drive. Take it camping, take it surfing, take kids hiking or just take it to work no matter the weather. Even better, you won’t have to mortgage your offspring to get one. Base Mach-Es start at $37,795 with ours rising to $52,720 – a fair price compared to the Chevy Equinox EV, Hyundai IONIQ5, Kia EV6, Subaru Solterra or Toyota bZ.
Storm Forward!
Send comments to Casey at AutoCasey@aol.com; follow him on YouTube @AutoCasey.