Used Ford Mustang Mach-E long-term test: report 6
The Mustang Mach-E is an electric family SUV with a high-tech interior, but what's it like to live with and is it a good car? We're finding out...
The car Ford Mustang Mach-E Standard Range RWD Run by Jim Holder, editorial director
Why it's here Ford’s first mainstream electric car needs to prove it can compete with the very best electric SUVs
Needs to Offer something more than its rivals – Ford is late to the electric party, so it's overdue a landmark EV
Miles covered 13,453 Price when new £42,530 Price when new with all options £42,530 Value on arrival £33,537 Value now £33,537 Official range 273 miles Test range 230 miles
17 August 2022 – Space race
A family trip to Norfolk recently provided a chance to give my Ford Mustang Mach-E’s passenger and boot space a workout.
We’re a generally tall bunch in my family, meaning we like leg and head room in the front and rear. On the former, the Mach-E is reasonable, with whoever draws the short straw to end up behind my 195cm frame still happy. It helps, too, that there’s notably more foot space under the front seats than in many rivals.
On the latter, the Mach-E is notably more spacious than some rivals, including the overall class-leading Kia EV6. It’s a shame that the rear seats can’t recline – as you can do in rival cars. However, it’s not a huge hardship unless you're on a longer journey that extends past bedtime (which, now that my children are teenagers, seems to be after mine anyway).
The boot is intriguing, because on official measurements it’s significantly smaller than those of some rivals. However, our recent comparison test proved that if you pack regular-shaped luggage in, it’s a match for most, if a fraction behind Toyota’s bZ4X.
My own less-than-scientific test (and, forgive me, approach to packing) for our weekend away backed that up. The short version is that I’d be amazed if anyone with even a pretty grown-up family of four couldn’t fit all they needed in the car and still be comfortable. The longer version is that the boot held all we needed, leaving the footwells and middle passenger seat free of all but what we wanted to be there. Not relevant to our trip, but worth knowing, is that the rear seatbacks can fold 60/40, and if they do so, the boot floor is flat.
Nevertheless, I must reserve some ire for the cloth boot cover, which I can only imagine is meant to be a low-cost, lightweight imitation of a proper one. While its malleability means you can squeeze more under it, I find it flaps around flimsily, looks on the brink of breaking free of its tiny fixings at any moment and is generally a bit of an irritation when the wind blows. I probably sound old, but it seems an unwelcome alternative to what’s gone before.
Overall, though, this was a strong showing from the Mach-E; here’s dreaming of a summer of more long, trouble-free trips.
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