The idea of an all-electric, 5 seater SUV carrying the famous Mustang badge seems like quite an absurd concept at first glance, but here it is. Meet the Mustang ‘Mach-E’. This is the first time in the 55 years of Mustang that there has ever been anything other than a sporty coupe/ convertible on offer. We’re not sure what’s most discomforting, the fact this ‘Mustang’ is an SUV instead of a sports car, or the fact it is powered by electricity and not a big V8. Either way, I’m sure we’ll get used to it.
The Mach E is a brand new model, purpose-built from the ground up to be an electrified performance vehicle, and one of 14 electrified Ford vehicles coming before the end of 2020.
You can see from the photos that the Mach-E borrows some styling cues from the Mustang, particularly the front and rear lights, the C-Pillar design and the contoured bonnet. While this is completely new, it’s not entirely unfamiliar. We’re excited.
Of course, there comes a great deal of expectation with these ‘performance’ EV’s but the figures that Ford have released seem to be pretty convincing. Ford says the Mach-E will do the 0-60 sprint in under 5 seconds thanks to 465 PS of power and a frightening 830 Newton-meters of torque… that’ll certainly push you back into your seat.
This is an electric vehicle though, so the most important factor will be its usability. How seamlessly will it fit into the lives of performance-SUV buyers? Well, Ford has announced the electric range will be up to 370 miles when tested to the WLTP standard… I’m sure there are very few SUV drivers getting that many miles out of a single tank. Ford has also integrated charging solutions which will locate nearby public charging stations and provide access to 125,000 FordPass Charging network locations across 21 countries in Europe. It all seems rather seamless.
This new SUV will benefit from a 100-litre front-trunk where you’d typically expect an engine to be, then at the rear, there are a further 402 litres of space in the regular trunk. Fold those rear seats down and the total capacity expands to a massive 1,420 litres - which is great for a sporty SUV like this.
The Mach-E will be an all-wheel-drive model that can be switched to rear-drive-only to save fuel, and Ford will be releasing a limited-run ‘First Edition’ model which will come as an extended-range model with exclusive metallic blue paintwork, a full-length panoramic roof, contrasting stitching and a ‘First Edition’ branded scuff plate.
President of Ford of Europe, Stuart Rowley, said “The Mustang Mach-E is one of the most exciting vehicles Ford has ever introduced,”
“This purpose-built all-electric vehicle is unique, but still unmistakably a Mustang, and it’s coming at exactly the right time for customers in Europe.”
By “exactly the right time” we’re expecting the first models to land in the UK towards the tail end of 2020. Ford is yet to announce their pricing structure for this model so keep an eye out for news as it comes over the next few months.
What do you think so far? Like what you see? Let us know in the comments section…