Signalling the biggest change in its 55 year history, Ford this past weekend revived the Mach designation for the Mustang, albeit as an all-electric SUV in the form of the Mustang Mach-E.
The source of much speculation since the leaking of several images and product details mere hours before its unveiling, the Mach-E draws visual hints from its namesake such as the headlights, bonnet, taillights and grille, but is otherwise unique in that it boasts a coupe-like profile, upwards rear shoulder line and a sealed grille embedded with the pony logo.
Inside, the interior departs from the Mustang entirely and mirrors that of the recently updated Explorer with the most prominent being the Tesla-style portrait touchscreen infotainment system that measures 15.5-inches and which comes with the Blue Oval’s SYNC 3 software that now offers over-the-air updates.
Boasting a floating 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster and a minimalistic design for the dashboard, the Mach-E also comes with vehicle locking/unlocking using Bluetooth, a panoramic glass roof with ambient lighting, an optional 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system and three driving modes dubbed Whisper, Engage and Unbridled. Providing seating for five, the claimed boot capacity space is 821-litres or 1 688-litres with the rear seats folded down.
With order books already open, the Mach-E will go on sale in a choice of five trim levels with the Select starting the line-up off by being powered by a 75.7 kWh lithium-ion battery pack that produces 190 kW and 414 Nm in rear-wheel-drive models, and 565 Nm in all-wheel-drive derivatives. Claimed range is 370 km and 338 km respectively with 0-100 km/h taking 5.5 and 6.2 seconds.
Moving one up, the Premium has the same battery as the Select, but with all-wheel-drive only as buyers seeking rear-wheel-drive will have to upgrade to the more powerful 98.8 kWh motor that delivers 210kW/414Nm. In this guise, the Mach-E will accelerate to 100 km/h in around six seconds and offer a range of 483 km. The Premium does however come with all-wheel-drive, but which ups the power to 248 kW despite retaining the same size battery, although with a slower 0-100 km/h time of 6.5 seconds and with a claimed range of 435 km/h.
Building on the lesser powered Premium but with rear-wheel-drive is the California Route 1 edition, while the First Edition is based on the latter Premium and comes with all-wheel-drive only. Technical details are however unchanged.
Topping the range off is the GT that comes with the 98.8 kWh motor, but which has been re-programmed to produce 342kW/830Nm. With performance taking centre stage, the all-paw gripping GT’s range is capped at 378 km with 0-100 km/h taking 3.5 seconds. Standard on all models is a 150 kW on-board charger that can charge the Mach-E from 10 to 80% in 38 minutes using a fast charging station.
In the United States, the Mach-E will start at $43 985 (R648 202) for the rear-wheel-drive Select and end off at $60 500 (R891 582) for the GT, but don’t expect it to become available in South Africa anytime soon.
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