Sensible and Fast: Driving the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance
This is the newest Ford Mustang Mache GT Performance. It features 150 kW charging, 280 mi, and it has all electric all-wheel drive. The heart of any electric vehicle is the battery. And what we have here is the extended range 91 kWh pack that provides power to both electric motors, one in the front axle and another in [music] the rear for a total system output of up to 480 horsepower and 700 pound- feet of torque. Yeah, cuz this has the performance pack, so you get an extra 100 pound feet of torque. Of course, this can charge at a rate of up to 150 kW using the included CCS charging cable. With an NACS adapter, it can also use Tesla [music] stations. Of course, on a DC fast charger, under optimal conditions, you can go from 10 to 80% of charge in just over 30 minutes. Though, most owners will probably charge at home on a [music] 240 volt socket. At my house out here on the Washington State Peninsula, [music] I pay about 7 cents per kilowatt hour, which is one of the cheapest rates in the nation. That means running an electric is dirt cheap compared to an equivalent petrol car. The GT here does come standard with a big Brembo brake kit, which is great to see. It also has 20-in alloy wheels. These are a optional wheel. Uh, and they are wrapped in Continental Crosscont RX tires in a 24545 R20 fitment. Now, unfortunately, the Mache here only has 5 in of ground clearance. So, uh, no off-road shenanigans today. The price of the model that we're testing here with some options is $59,525 including destination. That does include the Molten Magenta paint, Magnaride dampers, optional wheel and tire package, charging cable, adapter, blue cruise, and a seven-year connectivity package. That's all fine, but how does it drive? This vehicle does include Ford's secure code keyless entry. This is for if you want to leave your key fob in the vehicle. You don't even have to take your phone with you or any kind of fancy watch to unlock the vehicle. You can just go with your shorts and nothing else. Go do what you're going to do. come back, punch in a code, and you have immediate access to your vehicle. It is really a handy feature. [music] [music] >> [music] >> So, let's see what this can do with a 0 to 60 test. [music] Now, it is a little bit moist out today, but we do have all-wheel drive, so that will help. Uh, we're going to switch it to let's go ahead and switch to unbridled mode. And then I'm actually going to do unbridled extended. That's the track mode. Adds a little rumble in the background. I'm just going to punch it. 3 2 1 go. Good lord. And 60 in 4.4 seconds. We did spin our tires on the launch though, so yeah, we at least lost a second. But holy moly, this thing is fast. The ability to do insane 0 to 60 drops is obviously one of the main party tricks of a high power electric vehicle. This one also having 700 lb feet of torque just takes that to the next level. Now, obviously, there's even faster vehicles like this. Uh, but I don't think for the price, I think this one pretty much is the most you can get for the money. This is equipped with the Magnaride magnetic suspension system that introduces particles into the dampers to help smooth out the road, but also maintain stiffness when needed. Uh, the nice thing about it is it really does help keep this vehicle planted. When you hit the throttle, instead of doing this, it just kind of does this. Same thing with braking. Instead of this, you just kind of get this. [laughter] But there is a downside in this setup. It is overall I think too stiff. I feel every bump and crevice on these little country highways that I live on and it's a bit much honestly. Okay, so fast fine. How often are you going to actually use that? Probably not very often. But every day you need to drive this like a normal car. So how well does this deal with normal everyday car things? Going to go ahead and back it up a little bit into engage mode, which is still going to give us plenty plenty plenty of power. God, [sighs] do you like to rearrange your insides? God. [gasps] Oh, it's stupid fun. What was I saying? Oh, right. So, everyday drivability because this is more of a crossover than it is a sports car. Ingress, egress is very easy. The seating position is actually rather vertical. I mean, I can tilt the seat back maybe just a wee bit. Yeah, there we go. Uh, I do have a gauge cluster here, which is nice. Not all electrics seem to want to give you one of those, but uh, this one has it. And it gives me all of my critical information front and center. And then of course we have this massive 15 plus in vertical tablet over here to handle all the incidentals. Now I don't like the over reliance of the touchscreen. Like anything you want to do, you got to dive into the touchcreen. Say I want to change drive modes. Well, that's not just hitting a button or flicking a switch. That means finding the car, clicking the car, going to controls, and then picking my mode. It's a little bit more involved with your eyeballs than just reaching down, hitting a button, and away you go. So, I don't love that. However, they do give you a lot of customizations on this screen, which is kind of nice. Uh, in engage mode, I can go with one pedal drive if I want. Let's go ahead and turn that on. So, that means that when I'm putting my foot on the gas, we go. When I lift, we break. Will we break all the way down to zero? Let's see. Oh, yeah. All the way to zero. So that that is a proper uh one pedal mode. I can have propulsion sounds in the background. You probably can't hear them on the camera, but there's a little bit of um I can turn those on or off. And then there's also an option for auto hold. And then when I go into unbridle, we get at least one extra option, and that's the unbridle extended. So it's like performance plus. Unbridle extended is a track only mode. It is designed to allow for wheel spin. It also uh optimizes the vehicle so that it can just do lap after lap after lap at least a little bit better than you could do in a normal mode. Oh geez. I mean you can go so fast in this thing. I know I keep coming back to speed but you know what that is the party trick for people who complain this isn't a Mustang. By what metric? I mean it's faster than a dark horse according to Car and Driver's own internal testing. I haven't had a dark horse, so I can't compare. Uh, but, you know, it's faster than the fastest Mustang you can buy. Okay. Uh, it's sporty. Okay. It is a lot more convenient being a little bit of a crossovery kind of look. And I wouldn't say this is a full crossover because it only has 5 in of ground clearance. That's not crossover territory. Uh, but it does have a useful trunk area, so that's a good thing. You can even legitimately fit a couple passengers back there. Also a good thing. You know, I think we're long gone from the days where uh a normal person can afford a sports car for the fun car on the weekend. You know, these days, people need their cars to do everything. And if you want to splash a little Mustang fun into a compact crossover, well, thank you, Ford. I appreciate that. So stupid. I would lose my license so fast with this thing. Uh visibility is pretty good. You get a little bit of a blocking out on the SE-pillar and that rear glass is really small. Uh but, you know, I kind of have a pretty good sense of presence here. I can look all around. Now, we don't get a sunroof on this particular trim, but you can get other trims with sunroofs. The seats are actually really comfortable. Very nice buckets. I feel like I'm really planted in my seat. I could probably do a track day all day long. Feel just great in these things. Uh steering input is also quite good. They've really dialed this in. So that like turning you feel it. I mean it might be electric but it kind of has a nice on center feel and I can feel what the wheels are doing which is great and of course it's all-wheel drive so you just get a lot of grip. Now, the way the all-wheel drive systems work on these electrics, and this is universal for electrics, is you have one electric motor on the front axle, another on the back, and then they have software that communicates between the two uh to give you the propulsion that you need. And they can give you more of a rear bias when you need it, more of a front bias when you need it. It's really just a matter of backing up some of the power to be able to change your bias around. And I think this one does a really good job. It feels fantastic. I would track one of these in a heartbeat, honestly. Uh the biggest issue is of course weight because we do have a skateboard uh battery pack. The whole floorboard is basically batteries here and it's a 91 kWh setup. And yeah, that uh that does add some weight, but it does keep the weight low, which is good for handling. Now, this powertrain that's in this one, it's the enhanced performance pack. It's available in two different trims. this one. And then you can also get it in the rally trim. The rally trim is quite literally a rally driving styled mache. And unfortunately, Ford's never sent me one, even though I literally have a rally crossourse on my proving grounds. But, you know, whatever. Hopefully they'll send one up someday. Because Ford decided to make this a crossover, it is a lot more practical than most sports cars. Back here with all the seats down, we get 59.5 cubic feet of cargo capacity. Under the floor is a charging cable with both level one and level two charging heads. We also have the optional $200 NACS converter if you want to use a Tesla station. And we get a fix a flat kit. Under here, I both get illumination under the gate as well as a 12volt power socket. [music] But now the real question, can I sleep in it? It is snug. But you know, surprisingly, I do kind of fit diagonal. I am 6'1. This really isn't that bad. I mean, all things considered. As for tailgating, ah, yeah, it's not the most comfortable because it's not flush with the back. Also, this rear gate doesn't really cover my legs. I'm definitely exposed to the elements here, but it is doable. Under the hood, we of course get a small frunk. We got a light. We have some panels that won't come off. Oh, we do get the washer filler right there, which is nice to see. So, we do get a 12volt battery right under here. And uh that's pretty much it. It isn't really even that accessible. So, they clearly don't want owners getting into there. The Maki does use electric releases on the doors. Now, these can be a problem in areas where ice storms are a regular occurrence. Uh but I think for most people, they'll be fine. You know, this isn't bad at all. I am 6'1, legs torso proportionate. If I were driving, this is where my seat position would be. And I have room for both my knees and for my feet. Now granted, it is a little bit snug, but this is a smalish vehicle, so that is to be expected. Down here, I get vents, two USBC power sockets, and right there, a fold down armrest with integrated cup holders. You know, this seat is actually pretty comfortable. It's soft and has decent support. Really surprising for a second row seat. Okay, what do we got here? Given the performance that this vehicle is capable of, I'm honestly a little surprised by this interior. Yes, it looks sporty, but the seating position is decidedly crossover. You know, I'm very upright. Ingress egress is very easy. I think for people who want a vehicle that's quick, but don't want to feel like they're nestled down and low in a sports car, this is a good option. And however, if you are looking for that sports car seating position and feel, this isn't it. Uh, but they did do some good things here. I like these seats. I am absolutely pinned into it. I even get lots of power adjustments here on the side, which is great. The steering wheel is wrapped and has stitching, which looks really nice. Um, I do I'm not so sure about that plastic in the middle there. That looks kind of cheap. Uh, but that's actually kind of a rare miss in this interior. For the most part, I like this interior. On the left, we have control over the system. On the right, we have stereo controls and voice commands. Now, this is, of course, equipped with blue cruise, so it has a little monitor here that'll watch me to make sure my eyes are pointing forward. We get a good little gauge cluster up here with lots of information. And then down here, we get this massive vertical display. And this is running the latest sync software. You can do so many things with this. Uh XM satellite radio, navigation, you can do karaoke. Yeah. Uh as well as look at all your charge settings. Aircon is all at the bottom. It is digital, but you do get a nice big knob here that is multi-function. Um I can heat both my seats as well as the steering wheel. And then I can also attach wirelessly my Apple CarPlay or Android Auto mobile device. Uh, so I can run that up here on the display as well. So basically, you get lots of configurations, you get lots of options, and it gives you lots of data, pretty much everything that you would want in a system. Because this is an electric vehicle, it doesn't have to have a drive shaft down the middle. It has an electric motor front and back, and those control the individual axles. No physical connections needed in the middle. Uh, we do get a nice big tray up here, which has integrated charging for my mobile device. Couple cup holders. I even have a place I can put my phone there, which is cool. I can put change or tokens there. And I get an armrest that says GT, so I know what I'm driving with another bin that is also pretty deep, actually. This also has a 12vt and two USBC power sockets. Plus, I get USBA, USBC up there, and another bin down below. So many bins. The seats here also have memory settings. You get three memory positions, which is great to see. And this also has the optional blue cruise system, which is their hands-free adaptive cruise control. Let's try it. Now, let's talk safety. This thing is, of course, fully loaded with collision mitigation, blind spot warning, surround view camera system, rear camera with cross traffic alerts, all the stuff that you would expect here in 2025 in a premium model. Uh, this also does have a nice adaptive cruise control system. Go ahead, turn it on here. Hit set. And now I am rolling down the highway. It's going to match the speed of the vehicle in front of me. And it is telling me to put my hands on the wheel. Now, this vehicle actually does come with the Blue Cruise hands-free autopilot system. I think autopilot is probably too strong of a word, but you know, basically the hands-free ADAS system. Uh unfortunately it is prevented from working on this particular highway because the geo fencing says this highway is not approved. Now interesting thing recently I did test the new Chevy Traverse with Super Cruise their equivalent system and it actually allowed this highway. So Super Cruise is definitely more liberal with where they are allowing the system to work compared to the Ford. Now the geo fencing is tied into the navigation system. It basically will flag a highway. It It'll The car basically knows where it is and the system will flag whether or not it'll allow me to go full hands-free. If I don't go full hands-free, it just g basically does the standard adaptive cruise with a hands-on uh type of system. And of course, you know, if I take my hands off the system for just a brief moment here, it will eventually tell me to put my hands back on the wheel. It's actually doing a really good job centering. You can see that it's keeping us just absolutely down the middle of the road there. Keep hands on steering wheel. Now, while I am in any of the ADAS modes, I do need to, of course, keep my eye straight ahead and have a little sensor in front of the wheel here that is tracking my eyeballs. Uh, now let's find a road where we actually can use Super Cruise because they did add a new feature for 2025. So, now we're jumping on to Highway 16, which is a larger multi-lane highway in our area. Let's see what this does. Okay, let's engage blue cruise. I'm going to basically set up ADAS like I would normally do. Turn it on. Set my Turn it on. Set my speed. Uh, target for maximum speed here. And then when the little gauge cluster here goes all blue, I know that I can then do hands-free. Now, at this point, I can, you know, juggle or hand drum or, you know, air drums or whatever. [laughter] Um, but I don't have to have my hands on the wheel. I do, however, have to keep my eyes looking forward. Now, one of the changes for the new 2025 model year is that it will pass vehicles if it feels it should uh that is if the vehicle in front of us is going below the target speed, it will initiate a pass. Obviously, after checking its sensors to make sure that a pass is doable. Now, Chevy system also does that. So, basically, it's getting Blue Cruise up to speed with the Chevy Super Cruise system. Um, and having used Super Cruise recently on the Traverse, I would say it's a little too aggressive at passing. Like even if we're one mile per hour off, it just jumped into the other lane, actually cutting somebody off at one point. So, it is definitely too aggressive. [gasps] But, uh, yeah, we're getting there with this with this these type of, uh, technical advances. Now, my target speed is higher than the vehicles in front of me. So, this is new for the 2025 model year. It should Yep, there we go. It's initiating a pass. Putting on the blinker, checking its sensors now, having us go forward. And then once we get past these slower vehicles, it'll then go back into the other lane. So, we just passed that Chevy. Is it going to try to put us over yet, or is it going to try to pass this truck? I think it's going to pass the truck ahead of us. Okay, that's pretty smart. It knows not to make that little dip in. How far will we go, though? Okay, at this point, I think it should dip back over to the to the right lane. Are you going to do it? It doesn't seem to want to. We've definitely cleared that truck. Okay, so the Chevy system absolutely would have brought me back over there already. For this one, I'm going to go ahead and use the ticker and it's going to move me over now using the hands-free system. So, I would say that, you know, the Ford system is good, but it's not quite as aggressive or uh featurerich as the Chevy system. Of course, the other system that we got to talk about is the Subaru hands-free system. That one you don't even pay money for. It's just part of the touring package and the connectivity package which of course you need for updated maps and stuff but they don't charge you specifically for that feature and it doesn't do like automated passes uh but it will do ticker passes if you want to initiate one and I think that for the level of functionality you know just being part of the vehicle and part of the connectivity package I think that's well worth it. Now as far as the rest of this vehicle it is quite comfortable. I like the seats. They feel pretty good. the heat when you put it on, it comes on strong. Uh the steering wheel, the the wrap feels fakeish. It feels too plasticky. I would like something that feels a little bit better. Uh but overall, the effect in here I think is actually pretty good for the cost of this vehicle. I think you are getting a car that is fun to drive, looks good, and also, you know, has a nice cabin. This is a very nice cabin. I also like especially that we have three different memory positions. That's a lot and that's great. Now, there are of course downsides on this vehicle. The charge peak of 150 kW is pretty low for 2025. When this first came out, that was good. Now, not so much. The Ionic 5 from Hyundai charges way faster, as do a number of other vehicles. But that said, if you are buying this to charge at your house, which is really most people, you you're not always doing long road trips. You don't always need fast charging. Uh and 150 kW is still good. It's just not great. But I think for people who typically charge at home, an overnight charge is going to get you fully charged anyway. So that minimum bar has been met. Uh also range, you know, little 220, 230, something like that. In the real world, it's good and it's definitely workable. I personally don't think people need more than that in a daily driver. Uh but, you know, some people like big numbers and there are other vehicles with bigger numbers, sometimes with a much bigger price. But I think this vehicle is just it's a smart value in terms of high performance electric all-wheel drive vehicles. It has the features. It has the looks. It drives really nice. And I think it would be actually quite easy to live with cuz all of the downsides are just when comparing it to the competition which might have some technological leaps but in practical use doesn't really improve much. So, what do you think? Is this the electric to get or would you get something different? Post a comment below. For Driving Sports TV, I'm Ryan Dath. Thanks for watching. Be sure to like, subscribe, share videos. We make a few. I hope you enjoy them and we'll see you again right here on the next video. 3 2 1 punch it. Good. Fastest crossing ever. Woo! [laughter]
We get behind the wheel of the 2025 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance to see how it drives, charges and what it’s like to live with.
#fordmustang #ford #electriccar
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