Ford Puma Gen-E Review | Ford’s new compact electric car | Changing Lanes TV
Hello and welcome to the Ford Puma Gen E. The long awaited electric Puma. It feels like we waited so long for this car to arrive. So, just to recap, the petrol Puma went on sale in Ireland back in 2020. It’s been a really good success. It’s captured that Fiesta market since the demise of the Fiesta a few years ago. So, this is the smallest Ford you can now buy. This goes on sale from just under €33,000 for the select or from about €35,000 700 for the premium like what I’m driving here. But they’re pretty well matched on price to the petrol puma. So your choice is whether you’re going to stay petrol or you going to give the electric Puma a try. I always love the styling of the Ford Puma since it first came out. It is a bestseller and you don’t mess with best sellers. So, Ford haven’t radically restyled this for the electric one. It does get more aerodynamically styled bumpers. And if you go for this electric one, there’s also this closed grill plate as well. This little bit of black trim that some people compare to a little mustache on the car. I don’t quite see that myself, but let me know what you think. But it’s a beautiful car. It’s got a really compact, sporty stance, but a little bit cute as well. like these headlights. So LED is standard across the range, but if you go for the premium like this one, these are matrix LEDs and they have this unique claw effect as well. So that helps you to differentiate the premium from the select. Few different color options. So this one is solar silver. Actually looks really good in this. 17in alloy wheels as standard, but if you go for this premium, you get 18 in. So last year the Puma got an update that completely revised the interior. So, the electric one gets that, but a few little changes of its own as well. So, for a start, your drive selector is here on the right of the steering wheel. You got more storage space onto this bridge console. It gets this frankly enormous steering wheel. It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing, and I do miss the sporty compact one from the previous one, but look, there’s a reason for this. You got to be able to see that new digital driver display, which you look through the steering wheel at. There’s also a new touchcreen and it is an upgrade on what came in the Puma before. So, you’ve got a new running system. There’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. They’ve removed all the dials and knobs for the ventilation. So, there’s always a trade-off, isn’t there? They are in a strip here at the bottom of the screen. There are a few shortcut buttons left, like one for the drive modes, very important, and there’s a little dial here for the volume. Wireless smartphone charging place for keys, cup holders, and a little armrest. There’s a gray and black color scheme which I think really lifts things in here. Soft touch materials mixed with some harder plastics, but that’s totally acceptable in this class of vehicle. If you do go for the premium, you get the plusher seats, BNO stereo, and keyless entry. But I think the select might be all you need. All the digital tech, wireless smartphone charging, cruise control, and a reversing camera. So, this has got quite a modest battery. It’s 43 kWh, and that’s reflected in the range estimates of this car. So up to 376 km in the select and up to 363 km in the premium because it does have larger wheels. So if you look at rivals like Hyundai Iona, Pujo E208, Jeep Avenger, there’s lots more. A lot of those are at least hitting that 400 km mark. So this looks a little compromised on paper, but that’s not the full story because the ace car that this has is its efficiency. So they say as low as 13.1 kwatt hours per 100 km and that is certainly doable when you’re just touting around town and city. And I think that’s where this really is at its best. I have taken it out on the motorway to do a longer sprint at 120 km/h. Even on a mountainous country road like this, it’s a bit more challenging. I’m seeing that consumption going up to about 16 17 kwatt hours per 100 km. So that obviously will have an effect on your range. I do think it’s a car that is at its best in town and city driving. out on the motorway there’s quite a lot of road noise and it’s not the most comfortable car anymore either and I suppose it’s built on an older platform now’s been around since about 2020 so it’s not 100% the most refined option you get a lot of road noise this one’s on 19in optional which they look lovely but probably wouldn’t be my first choice because it does have an effect on comfort but I think also refinement So it get quite noisy out on the motorway. A little bit firm underneath you as well. You can feel the road underneath you in this car as well. To be fair, fume of petrol was always like that as well. It was always built on the more sportier side of things. And the plus side of all that is that it is so much fun to drive. Even in this electric one, it’s up for a laugh if you know what I mean. 0 to 100 is 8 seconds. You’ve got 168 horsepower. That’s through the front wheels. You’ve got drive modes, normal, eco sport, and slippery. Sport mode is the best in terms of the performance and how much joy you’ll have behind the wheel. I do find that the performance felt a bit more muted when I was in the other drive modes. So, I think sport is the one if you’re looking for that little pepier feel behind the wheel. There’s also a full one pedal drive. You access that from the screen. There is a little bit of artificial noise which you can turn that on or off. You got this L mode here on your gear selector and that’s like the one pedal drive. Gives you that stronger regen, but it doesn’t quite bring you to a stop. You’re going to need one pedal drive on for that. There’s no heat pump included in this car, so I don’t know what the range would be like in winter. That could be a major shortcoming. It’s about 14° now. It’s September in Ireland. So, this is not the worst weather we’re going to get this year. So, I couldn’t possibly say what it would be like. Colder weather, but with no heat pump, I would fear the worst, unfortunately. But again, it depends on how you’re going to use your Puma. Are you just doing your short little runaround trips? On longer trips, you’re going to feel that capacity, having a lower capacity battery more than just doing short journeys because then you can just charge at home and then you’re a winner in that scenario cuz it’ll be much cheaper to run this than the petrol one which actually can get quite thirsty. You have fast charging capability up to 100 kW. So that’s your 10 to 80% charge and they say as little as 24 minutes and 11 kW AC. The Puma was always quite titchy in the back for a compact crossover, and it’s no different here really. It’s not the most generous amount of leg room. Now, I’m fine here sat behind myself with that seat set for me, but the floor has been raised a little bit for the battery. So, you don’t get as much thigh support in this car, and headroom is not exceptionally generous either. But realistically, children are more likely to be seated back here. They should be fine. And you do have your ISOIX on the two outer seats. There’s no armrest, but that’s not always a given in the B segment, so I wouldn’t really criticize it for that. There is a 12vt socket, two USBC ports, and pockets in the back of those seats. Because this is the electric one, it has pumis built out in white. You get a power tailgate as standard on the premium one like this. And you get a good space here, right? So, that looks good. You can also let down those rear seats. But the secret sauce with the Puma’s boot is that the mega box has turned into the gigab box. So, you get all this extra space onto the boot floor. It even has a plug hole so you could actually wash this out. Now, I posted a short video of this on my social media when I was at the launch of this car. I was very impressed with it, but one of my clever followers was like, “What about the spare wheel?” There’s no spare wheel, guys, but you got a gigantic gigab box. The Puma Jenny is probably going to be of most interest to people who already own a Puma because I think if you don’t, you probably will be put off by that modest range. Whereas, if you love the Puma for its cool styling and it’s ginormous boot and how fun it is to drive, then it would be an easier shift into this. But do bear in mind that it’s really more of an urban runaround style of car than I would say long-distance motorway driver. So that’s all from the cabin of the Ford Pum Gen E. You can read more over on changing lanes. And I left a link in the description below the video. So thanks for watching and I’ll see you soon.
Ford Puma Gen-E Review | Ford’s new electric Puma tested on Irish roads.
In my latest review, I take an in-depth look at the new Ford Puma Gen-E, the first all-electric version of Ford’s bestselling compact crossover.
The Gen-E brings everything we love about the Puma – sporty styling and fun driving dynamics – and adds zero-emissions to the mix. But does it deliver the range Irish drivers need in 2025?
📌 For the full written review: www.changinglanes.ie/ford-puma-gen-e-review
Watch the review and let me know what you think in the comments.
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Changing Lanes is a leading Irish motoring blog by Caroline Kidd featuring honest car reviews and fab features. At Changing Lanes, I aim to give you a fun, honest and alternative viewpoint on cars and the motor industry. As a proud independent voice and trusted authority on motoring in Ireland, I have no agenda other than to help consumers to navigate the numerous choices available to them when it comes to buying a new car.
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