2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E review: Australian launch

Messing with tradition is a dangerous exercise.

What's more, launching a product that’s first of its kind is also fraught with danger – and Ford has elected to roll both of those risky ventures into one car. Brave.

The Ford Mustang Mach-E is the Blue Oval’s first serious foray into the world of all-electric motoring. Now, four years after launching in its home market, it is finally on sale in Australia.

Rusted-on Mustang aficionados will likely despise it purely because it applies the hallowed Mustang name to a high-riding, five-door crossover (and the absence of combustion power obviously raises their hackles too), but let’s try and look beyond the marketing – is the Mustang Mach-E a good performance EV, or not?

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Starting from $79,990 for the RWD Select and topping out at $107,665 for the dual-motor AWD GT performance hero, the Mach-E is positioned above similarly-shaped offerings like the Polestar 2, Tesla Model Y and Kia EV6.

Countering the high cost of entry is a fat standard equipment list. The Mach-E Select is standard with features like a massive glass panoramic sunroof, a glitzy 15.4-inch portrait display, a 10-speaker B&O sound system, a 10.2-inch digital instrument pack (in an ultra-slim panoramic aspect ratio), adaptive cruise control, power-adjustable front seats, remote connectivity features, pleather upholstery, a wireless phone charging pad, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, and an electric tailgate.

Powered by a 72kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery, the 198kW/430Nm RWD Select offers a driving range of 470km.

Since this review was published, Ford Australia has lowered the pricing for the Mach-E - see story below.

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Mach-E Premium

Moving further into the range, the mid-tier Mach-E Premium adds projector LED headlamps, red contrast stitching for the upholstery, a black headliner, metal pedals, ambient interior lighting and red brake calipers.

The Premium is still only rear-wheel-driven like the Select, but it swaps out the LFP battery for a more potent 91kWh lithium-nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery, along with a slightly spicier 218kW power peak (torque remains at 430Nm), and 600km range. Price? $91,665 before on-road costs.

Mustang Mach-E GT

At the top of the tree is the Mustang Mach-E GT, a dual-motor, all-wheel drive performance flagship that should help quell the concerns of Mustang fans that the electric pony can’t run.

Using the same 91kWh NMC battery as the Premium, it grafts an electric motor to the front axle for a combined output of 358kW/860Nm, while the chassis is upgraded through adaptive magnetorheological dampers, Brembo front brakes, Pirelli P-Zeros on 20-inch alloys, and a GT-specific “Untame Plus” drive mode.

Range drops down to 490km per charge due to the weight and power draw of that extra motor, but that’s the price paid for performance.

But it’s time to put the brochure down and saddle up, because the proof of this pony is in the driving. First impressions? Pulling on the vestigial ‘handle’ that pops open the front doors proffers a futuristic handshake, but sliding into the Mach-E’s driver’s seat is disappointing: it just doesn’t feel sporty.

There’s no feet-out, bum-on-the-deck posture that you’d expect of something with the Mustang label, and though this writer isn’t especially tall, it was still not possible to get the driver’s seat adjusted to a height that felt comfortable.

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We get it, it’s a crossover; the H-point is going to be higher than a sports car, but the Mach-E rides on the legacy C2 platform that wasn’t designed with pure EVs in mind. Consequently, both the front and rear seats must sit on top of the battery pack.

Rear seat space is decent for two adults but like the Polestar 2, it’d be a fair squeeze fitting three adults or teens across the rear bench. Like the front seats, they’re also short on headroom.

That rotary drive mode selector between the front seats is another lowlight. Contrasted against the space-age infotainment screen, it has a parts-bin aura that’s not in keeping with the rest of the Mach-E. So too the LCD instrument panel. It’s bright and has clear graphics, but lacks the customisability, versatility and visual wow factor of other digital dashes.

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But grip the meaty rim of the steering wheel, twist that disappointing dial into D, and the Mach-E begins to redeem itself. All variants possess sweet steering with a fast response, pleasing heft, and zero slack.

Moreover, the ride quality, whether on the passive dampers and 19-inch wheels of the Select and Premium or the MagneRide suspension and 20s of the GT, is great. There’s plenty of vertical travel to this suspension but it doesn’t feel like a waterbed – nor does it ride like a rollerskate.

Our last drive of the Mustang Mach-E took place in the USA, where the American-spec suspension rattled our teeth with a needlessly brittle ride. For Australia, Ford has given us what it terms the 'Irish tune', which has far more compliance. Good move.

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A skidpad and track activity put on by Ford at the launch proved that the Mach-E can do lairy sideways things

The GT does have a noticeable difference in body control over the Select and Premium, with its adaptive dampers providing faster bump recovery and what feels like greater resistance to roll when the roads are twisty, but also a thicker layer of plushness when traversing sedate suburban streets.

And then there are the dynamics. A skidpad and track activity put on by Ford at the launch proved that the Mach-E can do lairy sideways things if you provoke it enough, but it’s out on the road where it feels sportiest.

There’s a surprisingly permissive stability control calibration when you put the car in Untame mode (there’s also the ‘regular’ Active mode, and the predictably limp Whisper eco mode) that allows stabs of throttle to bring the rear end around, and for a heavy (2.3 tonne for the GT!) EV, the Mach-E can dance surprisingly well.

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Coupled with its satisfying steering, the Mach-E gets high marks for driver enjoyment – there might not be a V8 under the bonnet, but there’s definitely a Mustang spirit in this one.

It’s not a perfect driving experience, mind you. An overly-sensitive brake pedal that also has a small dead zone near the top of its travel makes it hard to drive smoothly at times, and while there’s a one-pedal drive model that dials up the regenerative braking to limit how often you need to touch the left pedal, there’s no ability to vary the strength of the regen like in other EVs. We simply turned it off for a more natural drive.

So too the lane-keep assist system, which was a little too trigger-happy and liked intervening early. It can be switched off, but that defeats the purpose of having that safety system to begin with, no?

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And then there’s its straight-line performance. The calling card of modern EVs is blistering standing-start acceleration, yet the Mach-E lacks the Tesla-like force that some may be expecting.

Even the dual-motor GT, which has a claimed zero-to-hundred of 3.7 seconds, doesn’t feel all that special when you mat the accelerator, with torque seeming to noticeably taper off above 70km/h.

The rear-drive Select and Premium have factory claims of 6.6 and 6.2 seconds respectively, but that would be considered average for a hot hatch in this day and age.

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As far as efficiency is concerned, that could be better as well.

The Mach-E achieved an average of 20kWh/100km on the launch drive loop, and only 18kWh/100km on a very sedate medium-speed run back to the airport. Those aren’t great numbers for an EV of the Mustang’s size, and far from segment-leading.

Yet one could argue that a true Mustang really only needs to satisfy one thing: its driver. On that count, there’s more than enough in the way the Mach-E drives to calm down even the most ardent cynic.

It could be faster, it could be more efficient and it could be more affordable but at its core, the Mustang Mach-E has plenty of driver appeal.

Since this review was published, Ford Australia has lowered the pricing for the Mach-E - see story below.