2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E RWD standard range Video Review: MotorTrend Buyer's Guide

MotorTrend

Taking a look at the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E RWD standard range model.

Transcript

00:00 This is the all new 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E.

00:05 It's a four-door, five-passenger, all-electric crossover.

00:11 And yes, it's a Mustang.

00:14 So many questions.

00:16 Why did Ford call it a Mustang?

00:18 Has Ford lost its mind?

00:20 Is it really a Mustang?

00:21 And probably most importantly, should you buy one?

00:25 Well, you know what I say, let's find out.

00:29 (dramatic music)

00:31 Let's address the 900-pound gorilla in the room,

00:34 or more accurately, the 5,000-pound electric pony car.

00:38 But is it really a Mustang?

00:41 Let me answer that when we get to the performance section.

00:44 For now, let's talk about the competitive set.

00:46 And the Mach-E most closely competes

00:49 with the Tesla Model Y, but I have news for you.

00:53 Pretty soon, every car maker on earth

00:55 is gonna be selling a small electric SUV.

00:59 Ford just got their second.

01:00 As far as design goes, obviously it's not a sports car,

01:05 but it's pretty good-looking for an SUV.

01:09 Since there's no big V8 to cool, you don't have a grill.

01:12 Instead, you have this just kind of flat piece right here.

01:15 I also like how they have a big Mustang badge,

01:17 and it has the striping on it.

01:19 I'm not sure why, but it looks pretty cool.

01:21 Overall, I think the front is a success.

01:25 It's less of a success when you get

01:27 to this front fender section here.

01:29 These tires, they just, well,

01:30 they're low rolling resistance tires,

01:33 which, you know, for EVs, it's important

01:35 to have a lot of range, but these are the kind of tires

01:37 you'd find in a Toyota Prius.

01:39 But it's much better once you get behind the mirror.

01:43 There's not a conventional door handle.

01:45 You have this little winglet thing here.

01:46 You actually open it by pushing this button.

01:49 Door pops open.

01:50 There's one on the back that my four-year-old

01:52 absolutely loved.

01:53 Speaking of the back, this is the best view.

01:56 It really does scream Mustang, especially the taillights.

01:59 Look, it's really hard to take a good-looking sports car

02:03 and turn it into an SUV.

02:05 Porsche has been struggling with this for generations.

02:08 However, given a very difficult task,

02:10 I think that Ford's design team has done a good job.

02:13 It's pretty obvious that Ford spent a lot of time

02:18 sitting in and looking at Teslas

02:20 when they were designing the interior

02:22 of the Mustang Mach-E.

02:23 And that's fine.

02:24 That's a natural competitor.

02:26 Everything is centered around this giant screen,

02:29 just like in a Tesla, and the interior is simple.

02:32 They did two things really well

02:35 that you won't find in a Tesla,

02:37 and then one thing that's kind of bad.

02:38 Let's start with what's good.

02:40 They put a screen right here, right in front of the driver,

02:43 so I can tell what gear I'm in.

02:46 Am I in reverse?

02:46 I can look here.

02:48 I can tell how much battery's left.

02:49 I can tell how fast I'm going.

02:50 And if I was in a Tesla, I'd be looking here for everything

02:53 'cause there's no screen here, so very good job there.

02:56 Also, even though it's a giant touchscreen, volume knob.

03:01 In terms of what they did bad, the seats.

03:05 Look, this is a Mustang.

03:06 You're supposed to have sporty seats.

03:08 These are not.

03:09 These are flat, these are soft.

03:10 They don't have any bolstering.

03:12 They don't hold you in place,

03:13 and they're not very comfortable,

03:15 so it should have better seats.

03:17 Lots of room in this thing.

03:18 It's a big-ish SUV.

03:20 Lots of room in the rear seat, actually,

03:23 and when you fold the seats down,

03:24 because of that high roof we saw earlier,

03:26 you do have a lot of cargo capacity.

03:29 One thing, though, and this is not a Mustang Mach-E problem,

03:32 it's a EV problem.

03:34 It's a glass roof, and that's bad

03:37 because if you live in a place like LA or Phoenix

03:40 or Texas or Florida where you get tons and tons of sunlight,

03:44 it overheats the cabin,

03:45 and you use a lot of your battery cooling things down.

03:48 It'd be so much better with a metal roof

03:50 or even just like a cloth cover,

03:52 but other than that, and really other than the seats,

03:55 they've done a good job on the interior.

03:57 Earlier I said when we get to the performance section,

04:01 I will answer whether or not this is really a Mustang.

04:04 Funny thing, this particular Mach-E

04:08 is a single motor with a small battery,

04:11 so that means that there's one motor on the rear axle

04:13 that makes 266 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque,

04:18 and it'll go 230 miles on a charge,

04:22 and I've never driven it.

04:24 I have driven a dual motor Mach-E

04:26 with a bigger battery pack,

04:27 and I can tell you that it is more fun to drive

04:30 than 85% of the Mustangs I've ever driven.

04:34 Essentially, if it doesn't have a Shelby badge on it,

04:37 incredibly, the electric SUV is more fun to drive.

04:42 So I think that we can answer conclusively,

04:45 yes, this is a real Mustang.

04:48 As far as safety goes,

04:50 it comes with a lot of standard active safety features,

04:53 such as adaptive cruise control,

04:55 lane-keeping assist, and blind spot monitoring.

04:58 Another big question, how much?

05:02 All right, you can get into a Ford Mustang Mach-E

05:05 for just under, and I mean like five bucks under, $44,000.

05:10 This particular one standing next to me, $48,500.

05:15 How does that match up to a Tesla Model Y?

05:17 Well, that starts at (beep) thousand dollars.

05:20 So it's right there until you remember that,

05:23 for now at least, you can still get a $7,500 tax credit

05:28 if you get the Ford.

05:29 That is no longer true with the Tesla.

05:31 If there's one thing I want you to know

05:34 about the Ford Mustang Mach-E, it's that

05:38 it's surprisingly good.

05:40 Pardon the pun, but I'm shocked

05:41 by how much I like this vehicle.

05:44 At first, I too was cynical.

05:46 Ford's gonna make an electric SUV

05:48 and put a Mustang badge on it?

05:50 They're phoning it in, they're cashing in,

05:51 sellouts, every horrible thing.

05:53 But then, I spent some time with it, I drove it,

05:55 and they really did a great job.

05:58 I mean, look at this thing.

05:59 It's good looking, it drives great,

06:01 it has a nice interior, and it's thousands of dollars less

06:06 because of a tax credit than its closest competitor.

06:08 And really, the only reason you might choose

06:10 the Tesla over the Mach-E is because

06:13 of the Tesla supercharger network.

06:15 However, if you're not constantly going on road trips

06:18 and you're like most EV owners,

06:20 you do most of your charging at home, at night,

06:24 this could be your next Mustang.

06:26 To check out the latest rankings,

06:29 go to motortrend.com/cars.

06:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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