The Ford Mustang is one of the most loved and iconic muscle cars that helped America’s baby boomers fall in love with the automobile. Every model since 1964 has been a mirror of the decade it has existed in, and in the age of electrification, the Ford Mustang Mach E is no different. You’re looking at an on-trend SUV bodystyle that is brimming with technology while still carrying plenty of those Mustang design traits, including the headlight graphics, muscular haunches and distinct lack of Ford badging.
As for the mechanicals, you’ll know the electric car formula by now: a large (if this case, 88kWh usable) battery pack slung into a skateboard-like tray to improve packaging and handling performance. Except this version of the Ford Mustang Mach E is the flagship GT.
That means 480bhp, electric motors on each axle and more aggressive, performance-inspired styling. This includes air scoops big enough to lose your head in, lower sills, a subtle diffuser and a different finish to the not-a-front-grille. Ford says the reflective texture is supposed to evoke carbonfibre weave – it doesn’t, but it still looks very cool. There are larger 20-inch alloys wrapped around fatter, stickier rubber and the whole car now rides 10mm lower. There’s even an exclusive range of paint options to help showcase your top spec status, including the Cyber Orange of our test car.
We have one night with this tangerine dream, so we’ve decided to take it on a whistle-stop tour of some of the latest GRIDSERVE Electric Super Hubs. Being able to go places as and when you want doesn’t sound like such a big ask, but it’s been a challenging few years for EV drivers. These days, however, the future is looking much brighter with companies like GRIDSERVE committing to a nationwide network of High Power chargers so that all drivers, regardless of where they live, have the confidence to make the switch to electric.
Starting at Pease Pottage, the best-known motorway service area between London and Brighton, we brim our battery. Don’t worry, this was late at night so plenty of bays were available.
Admittedly, Electric Super Hubs don’t have the selfie-bait chic of our award-winning GRIDSERVE Electric Forecourt® locations but they do offer charging salvation for those of us who have been brought up on a diet of orphaned, often inoperable chargers. As an electric car owner, when I first saw groups of these chargers go up across the country, and in rapid succession, it was a real hug-your-mates kind of moment.
The six 350kW-capable units pictured here are about to be joined by a further six units later this month, that big power number meaning that some of the latest electric models can add 100-miles of range in less than 10 minutes. The Mustang Mach E GT has a competitive, if not market-leading, maximum charging rate of 150kW. Still, I’d barely had chance to set up my goofy Spotify playlist – the algorithm has been corrupted by the presence of a two-year old human that now accompanies me on most drives – before we were ready to leave.
With estimated range now set at 250 miles, we steer the Mustang Mach E GT onto the M23 northbound and get familiar with the cabin. The setup is way more radical than any other Ford interior you will have seen before. There are some classic Mustang references that geeks like me will enjoy, such as the sweeping cowl dashboard and the ‘Ground Speed’ reference above the speedo, but the majority of controls now run via a large portrait touchscreen that’s half an inch bigger than the one you’ll find in a Tesla Model 3.
All the software has been written in universally recognised HTML5 code, too, meaning that the car is able to run apps from Apple, Google or even Ford. And just like Tesla, Ford is able to update your car wirelessly, meaning you won’t need to drive to the dealer every time you require an upgrade. The only slight niggle is the fact the centrally-mounted screen is mounted flat to the dashboard. Looks nice and symmetrical for the pictures, but it’s the person in the back middle seat that has the best view. If it was canted ever-so-slightly to the driver, it would help enormously.
The sense of occasion in the Mach E GT has been heightened by a pair of figure-hugging bucket seats that nibble away at your back fat, while the revised interior lighting lets you play with colour, making you feel like you’re either in a boutique bar or a low-rent nightclub. The choice is yours.
Taking advantage of the clear roads, all-wheel traction and uninterrupted shifts, we explore the GT part of that moniker with some mashing of the momentum hammer. This may be a 2.2 tonne crossover, but it launches like Tom Cruise from a carrier deck. The 0-62mph time of 4.2 seconds is supercar worrying, yet there is no drama or fuss as to how easy and repeatable those figures are. That lack of drama could be considered an issue or a virtue, but it is unexpected. Like innocently chomping into an easy peeler and then discovering it’s loaded with chilli.
Synthesised sounds lend an engine-like voice to the car, which is quite subtle in normal driving modes but more rumbly in the fast one called ‘untamed’. It sounds a bit cartoonish and a bit cheesy on paper, but to this tester’s ears, it works really well and provides some sensory drama.
After 100-miles of driving, we arrive at Cherwell Valley Services located on the M40 near Silverstone. This is home to another six bay Electric Super Hub with 350kW-capable chargers, so we plug in, grab a coffee and open the Mustang’s bonnet to view the thunderous 5.0-litre V8. Just kidding… Instead, there’s a spacious 81-litre ‘froot’, if you’ll permit the portmanteau. It’s illuminated, water resistant and designed for holding a keg of beer if you’re American, or a pair of damp Barbers if you’re British.
With impeccable timing, a light drizzle begins to glaze the Mach E GT and we swap the sedate corners of the M40 for a country road excursion into the Cotswolds. It’s a chance to explore those multiple driving modes and enjoy some of the other upgrades. To list the depth and detail of engineering changes over a standard Mach E would take longer than the night we have, but it’s fair to say the revisions are substantial.
Most noticeable is the suspension which uses fancy MagneRide dampers to quash the restlessness you can sometimes feel in the way the standard Mach E bobbles along a B road. That improved composure translates into the corners, too. It’s fair to say this is still a big and heavy car, and that weight becomes an issue if you forget this is a family car rather than an all-out performance car. While it may be needlessly quick, it’s also a deeply practical family car with a useful real-world range. Everything works – except perhaps the miniature door handles. Not sure how fun they’d be with winter gloves on.
Bleary eyed, we continue into the night, revelling in the monstrous pace, breaking the darkness with the GT’s bird of paradise colour. The plastic murmur of rain continues above our heads as we venture past more 350kW-capable Electric Super Hubs at Leigh Delamare, Severn View and Solstice Park. We’re now up with the night watchmen and out of Haribo, but thanks to this latest rollout, never out of High Power charging options. The fact all this energy is being supplied by solar and wind projects across the country makes progress even sweeter.
Sometimes it’s important to shift the paradigm. Henry Ford knew it. If he had asked what people wanted in 1908, the answer would have been a faster horse. People go with what they are comfortable with; they retreat to what they already know. Yet sometimes, all we need is a nudge from somebody with a clarity of vision to show another way. A better way. I think he’d be impressed with how the future is looking.
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