BRIAN WONG: This 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E
has been with us for just over a year and over 11,000 miles now.
And that makes it prime time for us
to give an update on what it's been
like to live with Ford's first ground-up purpose built
electric vehicle.
In the time that it's been with us,
the general consensus has been quite positive,
as we expected, given that it won our top rated luxury EV
award in 2021.
And we define that at the time as vehicles
that cost over $40,000.
Since then, times have changed, and the Mach-E now
competes against a very deep field of likely size and price
competitors.
Impressively, it still holds its own,
sitting at second in our all wheel drive EV SUV
leaderboard, just behind the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
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The Mach-E might live on our all wheel drive EV SUV leaderboard,
but the one that I'm sitting in right now that we bought
is actually rear wheel drive.
This is a premium model.
It's the mid-level trim.
And it also comes with the extended range 88 kilowatt hour
battery.
And this configuration is actually the one
that gives you the most range.
All wheel drive models have more power,
but we wanted more range to test out.
And to be honest, we kind of like the driving dynamics
of the rear wheel drive models a little bit more in these EVs.
It comes with some impressive features,
like a panoramic glass roof, power tailgate,
and Ford's hands-free BlueCruise semi-automated driving
assistance system.
It also comes with this large 15.5 inch touch
screen that basically houses all the vehicle's controls.
And this is an approach that has left us both hot and cold,
as we'll get into later.
Ford's as-tested price of $53,700, this vehicle
feels rather well equipped.
But of course, when we went to go buy it at the dealer,
they wanted a $10k markup.
We were able to negotiate that down a little bit,
so our final purchase price came out to $61,700.
We briefly considered buying a GT model,
but we considered that big jump in price
not to be worth it for the added performance,
and you may have noticed this is a 2021 model that we
didn't buy until 2022.
That's because had we tried to order a 2022 at the time,
it would have taken eight months for Ford
to deliver the vehicle.
But this one was already sitting on the lot.
The centerpiece of this interior is the screen,
and our editors had a lot to say about it, good and bad.
But we'll start on a positive note.
DAVID LUCIO: My time with the Mach-E
was very comfortable, with its nice materials
and good build quality.
I especially enjoyed the sound system
and how easily it connected to my phone through Apple CarPlay.
And it stayed connected, unlike some other vehicles
I've been in.
The tech inside was also nice, with standout features
for me being the large touch display
and the wireless charging for my phone.
However, having certain features,
like the climate control only being
able to be used through the touch display,
makes it very difficult while driving.
But most of the things I found myself using regularly
had some sort of physical button,
which is always great to have.
BRIAN WONG: There's a bit of Tesla to the Mach-E's interior,
as most of the vehicle's operations and controls
are confined to the center screen.
But the Mach-E does one thing differently
than the Model Y, which I really like,
in that it still has an instrument
cluster here behind the wheel.
It's a very simple one.
It doesn't display too much information.
But I actually kind of like that, because everything you
need is available at a quick glance,
rather than having to look over and down into the right
to see your speed, or other things like that.
I should note that while David had a great CarPlay experience,
some of our other editors have reported problems, specifically
with wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity in this vehicle.
And I should know that as an Android user,
I've noticed wireless problems, as well.
Though the wired connections for both seem to work flawlessly.
This is something that we've taken our long term Volkswagen
ID.4 to task for as well over the past year,
and it's only fair that we do the same to the Ford.
And while David liked the screen controls,
there is some dissent on that point.
NICK YEKIKIAN: First of all, it's
the reliance on the center screen
to do practically everything.
It's not that it's impossible to get used to
or that it doesn't work.
It works just fine.
It's just that it's not as reliable as physical buttons.
And I know we harp on this a lot,
but occasionally the system will default to the hottest
setting--
depends on the weather outside or something.
But if the system is overworked, it'll
just default to blasting the heat at the highest
possible temperature.
And on a hot summer day, we really don't love that.
BRIAN WONG: As he mentioned, this
has been kind of a common refrain among our staff.
We don't hate large screens at all.
Big screen energy is kind of cool.
But there are certain controls that just work better
as physical buttons.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: So Ford might be the first and maybe
the only brand to implement this.
But if you use Apple Maps in CarPlay,
there's now a cool EV routing feature
that can help plan charging stops,
and will even estimate the amount of battery charge
you're going to have left once you get to your destination.
This is cool because it means that the Mach-E is actually
sharing its battery state of charge with your smartphone.
Unfortunately, it only works with Apple maps,
which I almost never use because I prefer Google or Waze.
BRIAN WONG: This is the rear wheel drive version
of the Mach-E. But even though it only
has a single motor, still plenty of power.
And it's got a pretty good 0 to 60 mile an hour
time, just 6.5 seconds in Edmunds testing.
And that means that it has plenty of juice for day
to day driving and it's easy to get on the highway,
and it maintains speed without any problem at all.
Our general impressions of driving the Mach-E
have been pretty positive.
BRENT ROMANS: The most memorable thing
for me was how it was enjoyable to drive.
There were two things that went into that.
First was handling, just even around town running errands,
just kind of felt nimble and sporty, hunkered down,
fun around turns.
Although I say that, also remember,
we're driving with a little bit more enthusiasm,
shall we say, and the tires would
start to screech like a bunch of monkeys
in a tree-- it's kind of embarrassing.
So we had to keep that within reason.
But overall, pretty just fun.
Second thing, acceleration.
Now, our Mach-E premium test vehicle
is quicker than your typical small, gas powered SUV,
or even something like a Chevrolet Bolt EV.
So overall, yeah, it was a fun EV to drive.
And I think it did a pretty nice job of living up
to the Mustang name.
BRIAN WONG: Now, if you live with any vehicle long enough,
some cracks will start to show.
JONATHAN ELFALAN: When the Mach-E first arrived
and its only other competition was the Tesla Model
Y, and its notoriously stiff suspension,
I thought the Mach-E was hugely comfortable.
But now that there are a few more options in the market,
I'm finding that the Mach-E is a bit less refined
in the ride comfort department than what we first thought.
The rear suspension is a little under damp,
which leads to a bouncy ride, especially
if you're sitting in the back.
So other options like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Volkswagen
ID.4 do a better job of controlling the motion
back there.
BRIAN WONG: It's also not super stable under braking.
So if you break it really hard, you
kind of feel the nose bobbing up and down.
It doesn't control rebound very well.
Now, impressively, you can drive the Mach-E for a long time.
This vehicle has a range estimate of 300 miles.
But in our Edmunds EV range test,
it actually went 340 miles, putting it
near the top of its class.
One of the features in the Mach-E
that we've been most excited to test out is BlueCruise.
And that's Ford's sort of answer to GM's Super Cruise.
Now, our impressions of BlueCruise
have been a bit mixed.
JAKE SUNDSTROM: I get a lot more comfortable
using BlueCruise in the mach-E the longer that we had it
in our fleet.
And I think that speaks to just how well the system usually
works.
By the time that we were getting ready to say goodbye to it,
I no longer felt like I had to keep my hands
hovering over the steering wheel every time that I activated it.
It's still a weird feeling to not be holding the steering
wheel all of the time when you're driving a car,
but I think to Ford's credit, they
developed a system that made that strange feeling
a little less intimidating.
DAVID LUCIO: I personally had a less than ideal experience
with the BlueCruise in the Mach-E.
For me, it never really seemed to find the center of the lane
and always ended up hugging one side or the other.
Much too close for my liking.
Especially at freeway speeds when cornering,
it got really close to the line, almost
going into the next lane--
or at least that's what it felt like.
So I ended up keeping my hands on the wheel almost
the entire time.
In the end, I think I was more comfortable without it
than with it while driving.
BRIAN WONG: We should note that there
is a new version of BlueCruise that we will be getting
on our Mach-E. And it's actually already
out on 2023 versions of the Mach-E called BlueCruise 1.2.
And it adds a few features that should
fix some of the pain points that we've had with the system.
Those include automatic lane changes, the ability
to slow down for curves, and, as Ford
says, an improved ability to position the car in the lane.
So that will directly address some of the problems
that David had.
We actually had a 2023 Mach-E in recently,
and a very similar spec to ours.
And we noticed the difference not only in BlueCruise,
but in how the screen worked, as well.
REX TOKESHI-TORRES: I'm here in our 2021 long term Ford Mustang
Mach-E, and I recently drove a 2023.
A couple of interesting things on the 2023
is that the infotainment screen is a lot more
responsive and a lot sharper.
Another thing that I'm looking forward to
is the BlueCruise update features.
Because it will enhance that sensation in that operation.
So we can't wait for that until we get that update.
BRIAN WONG: We actually discovered
that our vehicle hasn't gotten a software update
in about six months from Ford.
We reached out to them to see why this might be the case,
and they're still trying to figure out the reasons why.
So we are missing a few updates on our vehicle,
including one that would change the volume
knob to allow it to also control the climate temperature.
And that's an upgrade that would help
to mitigate some of the issues that we've had with the climate
controls as a whole.
So until Ford kind of figures out why
we haven't been able to get these updates,
we're in a bit of a holding pattern.
But we are definitely excited for our vehicle
to eventually get the same upgrades that we enjoyed
so much in the 2023 model.
Unlike many of the Mach-E's other updates, for this update
we're actually going to have to take
the car into the dealership to get the firmware updated.
So keep an eye out on our long term blog and here for our wrap
up video, where we're going to talk about if that update made
a difference.
Super fans of the Edmunds long term blog
will note that our Mach-E arrived at about the same time
our 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 did.
So we've actually lived with both
of these electric vehicles for about the same amount of time.
So I thought it might be interesting to poll
our staff who have driven both to see which one they prefer.
And the result was a landslide for the blue oval.
15 votes for the Mach-E, and one lone,
dissenting vote for the ID.4--
one strong, brave, independent thinker
who's willing to go against--
all right, it was me.
But even I will readily admit, the Mach-E is a better vehicle.
The reason I like the ID.4 is kind
of because it rides better.
But it has all these other issues.
I don't know.
Maybe it's because I don't like that Ford used the Mustang
name on this vehicle.
It's not a vote that makes sense.
But it's one that I stand behind.
The good news for anyone looking to scoop up a Mach-E these days
is that it, once again, qualifies
for a full federal tax credit of $7,500
because it's built in the good, old US of A. I mean,
I know the Ford's better.
Like, it's faster.
- And how does it make you feel?
BRIAN WONG: Bad.
I think it's-- I don't know.
It's just, it's not a Mustang, right?
- Well, we'll continue it next week.
BRIAN WONG: Sorry for going over again.
[MUSIC PLAYING]