Ford Mustang Mach-E 2024 review: Select long-term | Part 2

Our second month with the Mustang Mach-E took place over some January holidays, and with a typical coastal holiday planned, it was the perfect opportunity to conduct a real-world range test.

After all, the Mach-E we have for this review is the shortest-range version, somehow still having a 470km range according to the WLTP standard.

Sounds like plenty, and on paper I think it’s enough unless you’re frequently doing inter-city or inter-state journeys, but that’s only true if it gets close to the claim in real world travelling.

For those who don’t know, electric cars are the opposite of combustion ones when it comes to economy.

Thanks to regenerative braking, which uses the electric motor to recharge the battery when you slow down, electric cars tend to have better efficiency and therefore a longer range around town, while on the freeway where they need to constantly push air out of the way and seldom slow down to regenerate, consumption increases and range decreases.

In my experience running electric cars for the last few years, by how much depends on battery technology, aerodynamics, and how efficient the motor is (or motors are).

What is the real world energy consumption of the Ford Mustang Mach-E?

The first leg of our trip takes us exactly 192km to the ultra-fast charging station at Karuah, just north of the Port Stephens peninsula, and it’s solid freeway driving at 110km pretty much the whole way. (Image: Tom White)

Our trip takes us from Sydney’s lower north shore to up near Forster on the NSW mid-north coast. I’ve done this trip in an electric car before, a Nissan Leaf e+ back in 2021.

The Leaf had a claimed 385km range and it led to a few sketchy moments where I nearly ran out of charge, as once you get a few hundred km from Sydney, EV infrastructure starts to thin out.

It’s getting much better now, but there’s still a notable gap in useful charging locations between Newcastle and Port Macquarie. Still, with nearly 100km of extra range in our base model Mach-E Select, I wasn’t as worried.

I charged the Mustang up the night before to allow myself maximum charge, and in the morning at our start-point it was showing 95 per cent and 415km on the dash.

In total, then, with the freeway leg and windy steep national park terrain, the car travelled 264km and used 63 per cent of its battery capacity to complete the journey. (Image: Tom White)

Keep in mind, you have to take the displayed range with a grain of salt, as its calculator method seems to be based on the current journey, and not an average of your current trip or the last 100km as it probably should be.

This can lead to confusing scenarios where the car will show 400km or less on a 100 per cent charge, although it will improve as you drive.

The first leg of our trip takes us exactly 192km to the ultra-fast charging station at Karuah, just north of the Port Stephens peninsula, and it’s solid freeway driving at 110km pretty much the whole way.

On arrival, the dash shows 51 per cent charge, and 215km of range remaining, a loss of just 8.0km according to the initial range estimate, and at the consumption rate, allowing a rough estimate of 426km on a full charge.

It’s short of the 470km claimed range by under 10 per cent (44km), pretty good considering the average energy consumption on this leg of our trip totalled 18kWh/100km, up from 16kWh/100km. (Image: Tom White)

It’s short of the 470km claimed range by under 10 per cent (44km), pretty good considering the average energy consumption on this leg of our trip totalled 18kWh/100km, up from 16kWh/100km.

The 350kW Chargefox station took our Mach-E from 51 per cent (215km range displayed) to 83 per cent (354km range displayed) in 23 minutes.

The second leg of our journey takes us a further 75km north, although unlike the first leg, it consisted of winding steep hilly terrain and slower average speeds, even worse conditions for an EV.

It knocked our range down from the displayed 354km to 258km as average consumption climbed slightly further to 19kWh/100km, an additional range loss of 21km.

The official consumption of the Mach-E Select is 17.8kWh/100km. (Image: Tom White)

In total, then, with the freeway leg and windy steep national park terrain, the car travelled 264km and used 63 per cent of its battery capacity to complete the journey.

Taking those final numbers gives you an estimated total range of 419km, which is less favourable than the freeway leg in isolation, but I would still consider it solid given both legs of the journey were about the worst-case usage scenario for an EV (outside of track use).

In truth, I didn’t need to charge it at Karuah to make the trip, but I wanted a surplus of range for driving around the beachy region we were in, without having to worry about needing to find a place to charge for a few days.

It would suggest its around-town range is potentially bang-on or maybe even higher than the 470km claim. (Image: Tom White)

It’s also worth noting the consumption for the trip (19kWh/100km) is significantly higher than the number I pulled from it in my first month of 16kWh/100km.

It would suggest its around-town range is potentially bang-on or maybe even higher than the 470km claim.

The official consumption of the Mach-E Select is 17.8kWh/100km.

What is the Mustang Mach-E like to drive on the freeway?

Mach-E Select features 19-inch alloy wheels. (Image: Tom White)

All said and done, our week-long excursion out of Sydney covered around 800km. Of that there was around six hours of pure freeway driving, which is enough to bring out the warts of any car.

If we take two of my previous electric long termers (which compete with the Mach-E on price), the pre-facelift Polestar 2 was awesome to drive in the corners and around town, but its firm ride and noisy cabin were especially grating on long freeway trips.

Conversely, the Kia EV6 was quiet and had a much better ride, but the comfort factor of its seats needed work and the lane keep software was infuriating.

All of these previous experiences made my time in the Mach-E all the more impressive. Ford has managed to imbue an electric SUV with the sporty firm steering tune and considerate safety systems which make the Polestar 2 such a pleasure to steer, but with the cabin ambiance and SUV qualities which make the EV6 so refined.

I was able to hop out after a few hours on the road relaxed and refreshed, which can’t be said for every car, or even every EV.

Actually, after significant time driving in one session, the Mach-E reminded me of a certain Ford-badged locally-built sedan I used to own.

Does the Mustang Mach-E have a lot of boot space?

It has less than some rivals. Despite the fact that we packed for two and were only out of Sydney for nine days, we managed to use almost all the luggage space on offer.

The boot has 402 litres on offer, which is significantly less than something like the Kia EV6, and the space was taken up quickly by bodyboards, a beach cabana, an Eski cooler and obviously some bags. All Australian beach-going essentials, of course.

The boot has 402 litres on offer. (Image: Tom White)

Once I added some groceries I ran into an interesting issue where the flexible luggage cover would pop out of its mountings if a bag or object was too high, which meant 10 minutes of driving around with it rattling about until I could be bothered to pull over and fix it. I ended up chucking an overhead-storage-sized case in the frunk to solve the problem. 

I’ve found in most of my adventures I don’t use frunks much as they are usually a chore to open and close, but I was glad to have it this time around. On the topic of Eskis, the Mach-Es frunk can also be turned into one, as it’s fully drainable and even features bottle holders. A clever touch.

Once I added some groceries I ran into an interesting issue where the flexible luggage cover would pop out of its mountings if a bag or object was too high, which meant 10 minutes of driving around with it rattling about until I could pull over and fix it. (Image: Tom White)

Any issues with the Ford Mustang Mach-E? 

A traditional Australian coastal holiday sees your car parked up at a beach front often with little shade on very hot days - and my main issue with the Mach-E this month was how its fixed glass roof has a habit of absolutely cooking the interior.

There’s no roller shade, nor is there an included flexi shade, and while the tint is heavy and it fills the interior with light, I’d actually love it if you could opt not to have it, because tint or not it doesn’t stand a chance against the Australian sun.

The problem isn’t unique to the Mach-E, either, with the Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3 having fixed glass roof fittings. It might work in cooler climates, but it doesn’t work in Australia.

My main issue with the Mach-E this month was how its fixed glass roof has a habit of absolutely cooking the interior. (Image: Tom White)

“What about the app?” I hear you say. Yes. The Mach-E has a paired phone app, ‘FordPass’, but it’s nowhere near as slick or even functional as it could be.

It’s got some neat features, though. You can use it as a remote key, you can turn the car on with it, which in this case is handy because it will run the air con, at least if it was on last time the car was on, and it will show you your state of charge and the location of the car.

It doesn’t hold a candle to Tesla’s app. The Tesla app let’s you completely remotely control all of the climate functions, including the heated and cooled seats, as well as activate various features, like opening the boot or frunk, plus it offers a few other neat touches. Importantly though, it looks great and is ultra-fast, which can’t be said for Ford’s somewhat clunky execution. Sometimes it took the car a full minute or two to recognise what I asked of it.

Still, it’s some consolation that you get an app at all, and that it works. I’ve used worse.

Where to next for the Mach-E?

Before the Mach-E goes back I’ll have a chance to drive one of its latest rivals, the Subaru Solterra, so stay tuned for a little on how they compare. And in the final chapter I’ll sum up how I feel about the Mach-E compared to the rest of the EV market, and whether I think you should buy one.

Acquired: December 2023

Distance travelled this month: 863km

Odometer: 5820km

Average energy consumption this month: 17kWh/100km