2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD Review (The Drive)
A week living with this electric pony proves it's the real deal.
Let's start by getting one thing out of the way: The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E is, in fact, a Mustang. Ford, the company responsible for building the thing, baptized it as a Mustang and even went as far as putting Mustang badges on the front and rear of the car, as well as the steering wheel. I could sit here and debate with everyone whether this is right or wrong, but that'd be exhausting. It feels as tired to me as debating whether a Cayenne Turbo S is a "real" Porsche. Of course it is.
And more importantly, this debate wouldn't change anything at all. So, the faster we can move on from that, the sooner we can talk about what the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E really is.
Let's start there. It's a five-passenger, high-performance electric crossover that can be had in rear-wheel or all-wheel drive, as well as in various battery and performance configurations that deliver anywhere from 266 to 480 horsepower, and 211 to 300 miles of range — though some have been driven for up to 355 miles. When it comes to zero-to-60 times, the slowest Mach-E will do it in a balmy 6.1 seconds while the quickest in an impressive 3.5. It's the first production Mustang with four doors, this kind of ride height, AWD, and propulsion from electricity, not gasoline.
Depending on your need for speed, you'll have to part ways with anywhere from $43,000 for a Mach-E Select all the way up to $65,000+ for a Mach-E GT Performance. That price range makes the Mach-E competitive in the current EV market, positioning it alongside the Nissan Leaf Plus on the low end, the all-new Volkswagen ID.4 electric crossover in the midrange, and the likes of the Tesla Model Y on the high end. Unlike most of the cars on that list, however, its focus is on performance, as it should be with that name and pony logo.
My tester was a Premium AWD model equipped with the 88 kWh extended range battery, which delivered a claimed 270 miles of range when fully charged. The same configuration but with rear-wheel drive would've bumped that up to 300 miles. Given its performance and equipment, the price of $56,200 seemed like a fair proposition to folks curious about switching to an electric vehicle without breaking the bank — should Ford dealers not tack on exorbitant markups, that is.
But was it?
(photo credit: The Drive)
