When you hoof it in Ford’s new, all-electric Mustang Mach-E crossover, there’s definitely no shortage of giddy-up.
Soon as you press that “start” button, this dark horse of the electrified world will be ready for some serious horseplay.
Yup, it’s the mane deal. And you heard that straight from the horse’s mouth.
I know, I know. Enough with the gag-inducing puns. But when you, er, “brand” your family five-door a Mustang and superglue a galloping pony badge to the front end, you have to expect some kick-back from the neigh-sayers.
Unless you’ve been living in Timbuktu for the past couple of years, you’ll know that Ford’s all-new, amped-up sporty-ute was christened Mustang.
A bold move, I know. And sacrilege to all those pony purists out there who think a Mustang isn’t a Mustang unless it has two doors and a swoopy roof or canvas top.
But what better way of ensuring Ford’s first foray into electrification grabs attention from car buyers and, in best social-media parlance, starts a conversation. Trust me, that might not have happened had they named it Focus, or Fusion or, heaven-forbid Edsel.
I could take half a day giving you chapter and verse on all the cool tech and specs of this new people’s pony. But you can read all that on a million websites.
All you really need to know is that here is one terrific new addition to the rapidly-expanding electric vehicle segment. I simply loved every minute I spent behind the wheel. If this is the Mustang of tomorrow, sign me up today.
Seems I’m not alone. Everywhere I parked our retina-searing Grabber Blue tester, I literally had to fight off hoards of camera-phone snappers eager to selfie themselves with the car.
If I had a dollar for every time someone shouted “Hey, that the new Mustang?” I’d be buying Bitcoin or GameStop shares with abandon.
So does it look like a Mustang? Of course not, silly. But with just enough pony car cues– that galloping horsey on the blanked-out nose, the slender LED headlights, the three-bar turn signals at the rear– it’s convincing enough.
And there are those more fundamental “sporty” car cues, like the raked-back windshield and sleek fastback roofline. Those muscular haunches over the rear wheels look like the car just spent a month at the gym.
Five Mach-E iterations are up for your equine pleasure. Everything from the “base” Select model at $42,895 with a 230-mile range, to the crazy-fast, thoroughbred GT with its 3.8 second 0-to-60 gallop. Not sure though about that slightly-ambitious $60,500 starting sticker.
I just spent a week wrangling a loaded $55,000 Premium version with front and rear electric motors giving all-wheel drive, a 270-mile range from its 88kWh extended-range battery pack, and feisty, under-five-second 0-to-60 rush.
Of course, when you’re talking Mustang pricing, you have to take into consideration the thank-you-very-much $7,500 federal tax credit. Which just about covers the cost of that optional, extended-range battery at $7,700.
So how does it drive? Two words: Pretty amazing.
Tap the button on the huge 15.5-inch center touchscreen to dial-up the “Unbridled” mode – I’m not kidding – and the resulting, right-now acceleration feels like you’ve been hurled from a catapult.
Squeeze the throttle emerging from some tight, on-ramp curve? Whoa Nelly. I had a mile-wide Julia Roberts’ grin every time I drove this thing.
And of course, being electric it’s more hushed than a stable full of sleeping Clydesdales.
As for juice, a full charge showed 270 miles on the display which was plenty enough for my week behind the wheel. But I still plugged it in every night, just in case. That’s what you do with your iPhone, right?
Add to all this is a high-quality, nicely-equipped interior with plentiful front and rear legroom, a roomy rear load area, and bonus trunk-in-the-front. I loved the huge, standard panoramic glass roof too.
Trust me, Ford has hit one out of the park with this new galloping pony car. You should be chomping on the bit to get one.
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