Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium 2024 Review

The 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium is the middle specification in a three-model line-up of five-door, five-seat electric hatchbacks.

Priced from $86,990 plus on-road costs, it sits above the $72,990 (+ORCs) Mach-E Select and below the $104,990 (+ORCs) GT, which is the only dual-motor model in the range.

The Mach-E’s only been on-sale since last October but has already had one price chop. The Premium reduced $4675, lowering it under the Fringe Benefits Tax limit when purchased via a novated lease.

Even adjusted, the Premium still looks pretty expensive for a single-motor crossover. The Tesla Model Y starts more than $20,000 cheaper, as does the Hyundai IONIQ 5. The Polestar 2 undercuts it by more than $18,000 and the Kia EV6 starts more than $10,000 cheaper.

The primary way you can pick the 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium externally from its siblings are its gloss black cladding and 19-inch alloy wheels, which are the same size as the Select but sans aero covers.

It’s quite well equipped, with a panoramic glass roof, power tailgate, keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, heated steering wheel, heated and eight-way power-adjustable seats (driver’s with memory) and metal scuff plates and pedal inlays. It also nabs the red brake callipers and ambient lighting from the GT.

All Mach-Es use press buttons rather than latches to open the doors. It’s a bid to improve aerodynamics but seems unnecessarily fussy. Speaking of fuss, no Mach-E has a spare tyre of any kind, so if you get a puncture you’re in trouble.

All of the seven colours bar black is an extra $700.

The Mustang Mach-E comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, roadside assistance for up to seven years and a 12-month/15,000km service schedule. The first five visits average out at $156 each, while battery warranty is a maximum eight years and 160,000km.

The 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium scores the maximum five ANCAP stars based on superseded 2021 protocols. It features front, front-side, front-centre, rear-side, curtain and driver’s knee airbags.

The driver assist systems includes autonomous emergency braking that can detect pedestrians and cyclists as well as vehicles and includes intersection monitoring.

Other features include adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go and lane centring, lane keeping with departure warning, evasive steer assist, post impact braking, blind-spot monitoring with cross traffic alert/braking, reverse braking, speed sign recognition and driver monitoring.

The Mach-E proved itself a decent hands-free freeway cruiser, but it lacks the elite level of tuning the Ford Ranger system has. It lost its way that bit sooner when the road curved.

The Mach-E Premium comes with excellent LED projector headlights with auto high beam and glare reduction that shields oncoming drivers from being blinded. There are also reversing and 360 cameras, front and rear parking sensors, active parking assist, two ISOFIX and three child seat top tethers.

With its huge 15.5-inch infotainment touchscreen dominating the dash, the 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E makes quite the statement. Sitting alongside it is a thin, rectangular 10.2-inch digital instrument panel.

Key infotainment features – and they are standard for all Mach-Es – include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth phone/audio streaming, AM/FM and digital radio bands, embedded satellite-navigation, a 10-speaker B&O sound system and voice assistant. Smartphones can be wirelessly charged in the Mach-E.

The Mustang Mach-E also includes the FordPass connect embedded modem and smartphone app that offers remote door lock/unlock, preconditioning cabin temp, checking the charge and even locating the vehicle remotely with a mapping feature.

The 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium is powered by a single permanent magnet synchronous e-motor that drives the rear wheels via a single speed reduction gear.

The e-motor puts out 216kW/430Nm, is fed by a 91kWh (usable) lithium nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) chemistry battery pack from Korea’s LG and is claimed to accelerate the Premium from 0-100km/h in 6.2 seconds.

Right here is where the much of the price difference between the Premium and cheaper Select can be accounted for, as the latter’s e-motor makes 198kW/430Nm.

It also has a smaller and different chemistry 72kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery pack from CATL in China and it accelerates from rest to 100km/h in 6.6 seconds.

The larger NMC battery pack in the 2024 Ford Mach-E Premium helps explain its claimed 600km range compared to the Select’s 470km claim.

That claim proved consistently optimistic for us, if not egregiously so. At 80 per cent charge the predicted range was consistently just under 400km. Over one 229km trip including suburbs, country road and freeway the range dropped 282km.

The Premium is also claimed to be more efficient at 17.3kWh/100km, compared to the Select’s 17.8kWh. This is another consequence of the different battery chemistries. However, LFP does have the advantage of being able to DC fast-charge to 100 per cent without issue. NMC prefers an 80 per cent cap.

On-test averages were as low as 18kWh/100km and as high as 21kWh/100km. The Tesla Model Y generally averages in the low to mid-teens and the EV6 and Ioniq 5 also undercut the Mach-E in the real world.

The Mach-E has one-pedal driving to aid energy regeneration and it is effective. It’s also a multi-tap process into the screen to turn it on and off, but should be instantly accessible on the steering wheel or dash and preferably offer different levels of assistance.

Speaking of DC fast-charging, the claimed maximum rate is 150kW, which is average at best. The fastest AC charge rate is 10.5kW, for which you’ll need a wallbox and three-phase power.

So there are some basic numbers worth considering when it comes to the 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium that will give you a hint of its driving style.

It measures up at 4728mm long, is 1881mm wide, 1634mm high and has a long 2984mm wheelbase to accommodate its battery pack between the axles.

That battery pack also contributes to the Premium’s substantial 2098kg kerb weight. Mind you, it is slightly lighter than the 2104kg Select. That’s another function of LFP battery packs, which aren’t as energy dense as NMC.

That size and mass is underpinned by a heavily modified internal combustion monocoque platform that employs passive Macpherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension, electric assist steering and disc brakes with four pistons up front and single piston sliding calliper at the rear.

Only the GT, with its extra 142kW and 430Nm (yep 430Nm) uprates to active Magneride suspension and Brembo brakes.

The point of all this is to tell you the Mach-E drives with a languorous certainty rather than any sense of traditional Mustang sportiness. It prefers long corners and is less keen on tighter radii and quick switches of direction. Once you figure that out, it’s a pleasant cruising drive.

However, this then exposes the mismatch between light, feel-free steering and heavy mass. It feels bigger than its millimetres and kilos suggest. It’s not that much bigger and no heavier than a Kia EV6, yet seems in a whole different size segment.

There’s a lack of feel from the braking as well. It was harder than necessary to pull up to a smooth stop.

For the most part the Mach-E cruises across rough Aussie bitumen unperturbed. What crash and thump is detected can most likely be attributed to the stiff Conti EV rubber.

The powertrain is ready for action. It responds with zest at the press of the throttle, doing its thing in that usual quiet and imperturbable EV way. You can add artificial noises if you wish. I didn’t.

Its behaviour (along with the steering) can be altered marginally by the three drive modes Whisper, Active and Ultimate, but the most dramatic thing about them is their names.

The 2024 Ford Mustang Mach E Premium does some of its best work in the cabin. Space is fine front and rear for taller passengers, although two fit better in the rear than three.

The seating is also comfortable and it is commendable that the driver’s seat height adjust works off both front and rear edges. The driver should be able to attain the correct position with a generous level of steering wheel reach and rake adjustment and a big left footrest on offer.

Places to put phone, wallets, smart key and so on are all on offer via bins, cupholders, storage slots and the glovebox. The lidded bin in the centre console includes both USB-A and USB-C points.

Rear seat passengers are also looked after with air vents and USB-A and USB-C ports.

A 519-litre boot (measured to the roof) is adequate enough, though not in Tesla territory for carrying luggage. It’s backed up by a 134-litre frunk.

Split-fold the rear seat and space grows to 1420 litres – great for carrying substantial loads like mountain bikes.

Trim materials in the Mexico-built Mach-E are of a high standard, varying between cloth, leather and some form of carbon-fibre look.

And that huge screen is a bonus for people like me who nowadays need sizable numbers and letters to read. It’s especially good for mapping.

So what’s not to like? Well, there was too much drilling into the touchscreen required for driving functions such as mode changes and the previously mentioned regen braking. Having said that, the retention of a volume hard button and permanent air-con controls is sensible.

The adaptive cruise control system’s decision to turn itself off for a while didn’t impress us. It tuned back on at the next cycling of the ignition.

Jeepers, it’s tough to mount a convincing argument for the Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium even after the price cut.

Even if you forget the name and just assess the vehicle on its merits, it comes up short against a really tough group of competitors.

So the Mach-E is neither a real Mustang or a great EV. It’s a decent car. It’s commendable Ford has fired into action and got an entrant into the hottest part of the electric market, we just wish it had been a more compelling vehicle at a more competitive price..

2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium at a glance:
Price: $86,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Single rear-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor
Output: 216kW/430Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 91kWh lithium-ion
Range: 600km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 17.3kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2021)