We had already understood how the electric Mustang was an excellent car for life away from burnouts and powerful V8s. This time we had to discover how much fun to drive it really is and to do so we went to the mountains, where the snow eliminates grip and the absence of traffic ensures everything needed to reveal the cards.

Words Andrea Balti / Photos Alessio Becker

Batteries are charged to 100% and this time it doesn’t matter if a “full tank” won’t last until sundown. The meaning of this extraordinary day for an electric SUV is to discover if and how much fun the Mach-E is, perhaps even to the point of approaching the Mustang as 99.9% of enthusiasts understand it. No prejudice, given that I already had the opportunity to drive it a few years ago and realized that it is in fact one of the best eco-friendly solutions available on the market, capable of keeping people away from charging stations long enough not to have to bear anxiety about range or apprehension when preparing to undertake a medium-distance journey. The Mach-E on test is an Extended Range with two engines and all-wheel drive, the step immediately before the sportier GT. Will it be equally engaging? I’m here to find out.

With electric cars we make the mistake of reducing everything to the fact that they enjoy lightning-fast and instantaneous acceleration. Lots of power immediately at your fingertips and above all a constant supply that presses you to the seat, almost as if it wants to make you forget everything else is expected from a driving attitude with a marked performance inclination. The Mach-E is an SUV with rather compact dimensions, but it weighs as is normal for a totally electric car and with an overall range that the company declares at 550 km, but which when driven in a civilized manner stands at around a hundred kilometers less. 2,182 kg of weight that we always carry with us, the price to pay for a 98.7 kWh battery pack, rechargeable from 20 to 80% in just half an hour. Not bad, especially when you consider that with electric cars it is better to make an extra quick pit stop, rather than aiming for the fateful full charge.

Five seats, four doors with button handles and the possibility of leaving the key at home by setting a numerical code that appears on the central pillar, a futuristic touch on a car that doesn’t sell itself too short on oddities, but that pays attention to substance, the one that the buyer we hypothesized years ago showed its appreciation. Yes, because if many would have thought the exact opposite, it is precisely those who already own a Mustang – a traditional one of course – that look at the Mach-E with interest. After all, it is a car for the most disparate daily needs, with space on board and a very large trunk, both at the rear and at the front, where you can perhaps place the charging cables. We find the same stylistic language and the unmistakable pony on display on the faired front profile, on the door sills and on the steering wheel. The passenger compartment is also extremely functional and practical, with great habitability in perfect American style, two displays that put the bare essentials in front of the driver’s eyes and on the large 15.5″ vertical tablet for on-board controls, just above the rotor for the gears.

We obviously have a single gear ratio and the possibility of tackling downhill bits in “L” – which increases the engine braking effect – but to better manage the propulsion you can opt for single pedal driving, leaving the use of the brake only for the most consistent moments. There are three driving modes: Whisper, Active and Untamed, each of which significantly affects the throttle feedback and steering wheel resistance. I don’t deny that I preferred the intermediate Active, also because when necessary I never struggled when overtaking, counting on the promptness of the 351 horsepower available and a maximum torque of 580 Nm, the main ingredient that makes the driving experience with the Mustang Mach-E remarkable when the road becomes twisty.

Having left the town behind, I find myself hunting for snow, with climate preventing the windows from fogging up without halving the residual mileage, a number that I inevitably keep an eye on, at least to understand how much my desire for performance affects on the possibility of returning home without stopping for a recharge. It’s time to select Untamed from the central display and while the graphics change color, I immediately notice how the response of the engines becomes more elastic, accommodating the accelerator pressure and making available all the power reserve of the Extended Range, which has 136 horsepower less than the GT, but above all a set-up less suited to purely performance driving.

On a road like this, a Mustang V8 – or even EcoBoost – would have opened its doors to fun. The Mach-E incredibly does the same and indeed offers me that serenity that the all-wheel drive and a decent ground clearance guarantee on sometimes snow-covered and slippery surfaces. The Mach-E never loses control and indeed – also thanks to the Continental Winter Contact winter tires – racks up kilometers as if they were swallowed through a large funnel. The landscape is wonderful, with a lot of snow still on the bare branches of the trees and right in the dirtiest places I try to undermine the Mustang’s traction, which however responds flawlessly, proving to be the ideal solution for reaching the slopes with a truly unusual pony car.

The steering – especially in Untamed – is very precise and although the vibration of the brake pedal requires a bit of getting confidence, I soon realize that the performance deliberately dampened by the company does not represent a problem at all. After all, 180 kph on open roads is far beyond what you could reach without exceeding speed limits. Reactivity is the strong point of the Mach-E, a pachyderm that takes 5.8 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 kph and 8.8 up to 130 kph. Very respectable numbers and which reflect a driving style that you will soon see reminiscent of that of the internal combustion counterpart, where everything is never reduced to lightning-fast acceleration, but rather to the full-bodied delivery, an aspect that occurs with electric propulsion as well.

The suspension of the Mustang Mach-E always remains very soft. It rewards long distances with exceptional comfort and in the most frenetic driving it is practically never a drawback, as long as you don’t think of throwing it down a mountain pass as you would with a car that should weigh less than half as much in the first place. And then, if what you put first is absolute performance, then move on to the GT. The 351 horsepower Extended Range is the excellent alternative, it is the reasoned solution that combines practicality, mileage and just enough of the sportiness you would expect from that galloping horse proudly displayed on every corner.

At the end of the day I discovered that it is also at ease on fresh snow, where I certainly wouldn’t have imagined myself behind the wheel of a Shelby GT500. The range left came close to the need to recharge, but then again I am the main reason for that and without a doubt it has been a fun day. The aspect that surprised me most was the feeling of safety and the effectiveness with which I faced a context in which I had not yet had the opportunity to test this electric SUV, always ready to show a side of itself that is not only tempting those looking for alternative mobility, but also those who want a car with character and not a simple electric vehicle that winks at current trends. The Mach-E combines practicality and fun and as far as I’m concerned it’s a result that shouldn’t be taken for granted, also because it was able to convey all this to me in a hostile context such as a mountain road with precarious grip and temperatures below zero, which – as we know – is certainly not a friendly aspect for lithium ion batteries. See it as the Mustang to be pulled out of the garage to preserve your Shelby: it’s absolutely right and even if it will never be able to replace the rush of emotions unleashed by a good old V8, it reconfirms itself as one of the most interesting and effective electric cars out there. Bonus, it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg given that with a single engine and rear-wheel drive starts from €60,000, while the following steps are 68 thousand, 73 thousand (like the example on test) and 83 thousand for the GT, the top of the range which remains well under 100 thousand Euros.

FORD MUSTANG MACH-E

Motore Electric with 98,7 kWh Batteries Power 351 hp Torque 580 Nm

Traction All-Wheel-Drive Transmission Single Speed Automatic Gearbox Weight 2.182 kg

0-100 kph 5,8 sec Top Speed 180 kph Price from€73.150 Range 550 km (declared by the brand)