Ford Mustang Mach-E Select 2024 review

Mustang – arguably one of the most iconic nameplates in history. It might be known outside of motoring as a breed of wild horse, however in American car culture, the name spawned the pony car segment and helped create a muscle car era that still continues to this day.

However, when Gale Halderman designed the very first Ford Mustang coupe in 1964, it’s unlikely he would have ever thought there would come a day where the Mustang would ditch its combustion engine for electric motors.

Yes, I know you’re probably saying in your head: “Zak, this is not a Mustang”. And yes, you’d be right.

Not only does the electric Mustang Mach-E ride on its own unique platform, it has also added two doors, an all-electric powertrain and has ditched the iconic 5.0-litre Coyote V8 engine.

But upon being given the 2024 Mustang Mach-E Select to evaluate, I couldn’t help but think back to the heritage in the name and find out just how Mustang this new midsize electric SUV really is.

Is it fun to drive and engage like a Mustang? Is it enjoyable? Does it have character?

These are the questions I asked myself, so I set out to find out more through a week of pretty intensive testing.

Some strange part of me wanted it all to be right. Or is this just an example of motoring marketing gone wrong?

Well, let’s find out once and for all.

What are the Mustang Mach-E Select’s features and options for the price?

I’ve been fortunate enough to have already sampled the Mustang Mach-E range at the Australian launch, most specifically the mid-tier Premium and flagship, all-wheel-drive GT. But I’ve not spent extended periods in the base Select until now.

Ford Australia has recently lopped a decent chunk of cash off the Mach-E range, with $7000 taken off the base Select. It’s now priced from $72,990 before on-road costs which still positions the Blue Oval entry-grade EV over $9000 more expensive than one of its biggest competitors, the base Tesla Model Y midsize SUV (from $63,900 list).

But the Select is all the better for it, as the variant was an $80,000 car before on-roads at launch, whereas it’s now a $80,540-driveaway proposition without options.

While the Mach-E Select is positioned more expensive than some rivals, as standard it comes well equipped with the following features:

• 15.5-inch central touchscreen
• 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster
• 72.6kWh usable battery pack
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• LED headlights and tail lights 
• 19-inch aero alloy wheels
• Dual-zone climate control
• Panoramic glass roof
• Sensico artificial leather seats
• Eight-way power adjustment for the front seats
• 10-speaker B&O sound system
• Wireless phone charging 
• 2 USB-C ports and 2 USB-A ports
• Cargo blind 
• Power tailgate 
• Privacy glass 

In terms of value for money, the Mach-E Select carries a lot of the same specification found in the higher priced Premium and GT, but for less outlay. 

For reference, a Mach-E Premium is $14,000 more than a Select, and a GT is $32,000 more than the base variant.  

How does the Mustang Mach-E Select drive?

Does the new Mustang Mach-E drive anything like a traditional Mustang? Well, let me explain.

Getting into the Mach-E for the first time, you’re met by a comfortable and soft seat. The driving position is a little high for my liking, but the good news is that the Mach-E is easy to start – just hit the blinking green starter button, rotate the drive dial to ‘D’ and off you go, as simple as that.

I like that the Mach-E actually has a start button – it feels much more natural.

Underneath the cabin of the Mach-E sits a 72.6kWh usable lithium-ion battery pack that, according to Ford, will give you roughly 470km (WLTP) range. I’ll go into more detail about electrical efficiency later on in this review, but for now, allow me to chat a bit about the Mach-E Select’s powertrain.

That 72.6kWh battery pack feeds a single electric motor on the rear axle, a unit that produces outputs of 198kW/430Nm. Those numbers might seem small when compared to the Mach-E bruising big brother, the 358kW GT, however, over the week of my testing, I found the powertrain to be quiet, responsive and surprisingly punchy off the mark.

Ford quotes a 6.6 second 0-100km/h time for the Select, however during Chasing Cars’ performance testing, we clocked a best 0-100km/h time of 6.54 seconds, so only a teeny bit quicker than is claimed.

That sprint time is impressive considering the Select’s hefty 2104kg kerb weight. The Mach-E hides its extra kilos very well and, for the most part, I didn’t really feel like this was an overly heavy vehicle.

Around town, the Mach-E is certainly a firm ride, there’s no doubt about it, though not uncomfortably so. Fitted with a passive suspension setup, the model succeeds by offering a livable sporty suspension feel.

Unfortunately, the base Select does not gain Magneride dampers fitted to the flagship GT, which could add extra polish to the driving experience.

Although it’s a little unrefined over the bumps and undulations on Sydney’s worst inner city roads, the Mach-E Select makes up for things when driving with a little extra enthusiasm.

Dynamically, when you step away from city life and take the Mach-E to a decent, winding country road, you’ll find the sweet spot of this electrified Blue Oval SUV.

The Select’s nicely weighted steering system, responsive electric punch, classic rear-drive characteristics and higher speed confidence made it a joy to pilot.

I never thought I’d say such things about a two-tonne electric SUV, but here we are. The Mach-E Select plays a surprise role at being dynamically capable while also giving decent practicality. Is this a perfect all-rounder? Perhaps.

Ford offers three driving modes for the Mach-E Select: Whisper, Active and Untamed. I must say the Select doesn’t warrant much messing about with these drive modes, because simply leaving the car in Active was the right level of regenerative braking and electric punch and responsiveness off the line.

I must say I was a little disappointed that regenerative braking effect cannot be individually selected, like on a steering wheel shift paddle like a Hyundai Ioniq 5, for example. However, one-pedal drive can be selected if you wish to do so.

So does the Mustang Mach-E even remotely drive like a traditional Mustang?

Well, no, but it has its own sporting flavour I think a lot of Australians will love. It’s fun and surprisingly engaging, and is a joy to drive, no matter the occasion.

What is the Mustang Mach-E Select’s interior and tech like?

Taking a look inside the new Mach-E Select, I found the interior to be well built with some particularly nice materials and elements. One neat design highlight is the B&O 10-speaker sound system that flows across the dashboard, much like a TV sound bar.

There are plenty of soft-touch surfaces and altogether the interior feels premium, however I’m not sure it’s necessarily $70K+ levels of premium.

The big wow moment of the interior is the massive 15.5-inch portrait screen that is further complimented by a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster. The main screen has been developed by Ford to run the majority of the vehicle’s infotainment, climate control and navigation software.

And, for the most part, the big screen succeeds. It’s fast and offers decent response, however it isn’t quite iPad levels of responsiveness. Although I’m not the biggest fan of climate control integration into screens, the Mach-E does a good job of it, and I certainly didn’t think it was annoying or fiddly to use.

The only real gripe I had with the central touchscreen was that the layout was very busy, and it took some time initially to get familiar with.

The 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster is a nice clear display, but I felt it lacked customisable options and some key things I would have liked to see on the screen such as electric efficiency readouts and perhaps a graphic to show how the electricity and regen was working in the car, in real time.

It’s also a little on the smaller side, especially considering 12.3-inch clusters are becoming quite common.

Screens aside, there is a tonne of practical and useful attributes to the Select’s cabin. Two front cupholders, a wide and pretty deep central storage bin, plenty of space up front for mobile phones, generous door bins and even a handy sunglass holder all feature as standard.

In the rear, occupants get a set of air vents and USB-A and USB-C charge ports. A fold-down armrest also provides two cup holders.

In terms of space and comfort in the second row, I was very impressed. I had plenty of knee, head and toe room behind the driver’s seat and the seat bench itself felt soft and supportive.

The panoramic fixed glass roof really adds a sense of space to the cabin, making it seem much larger than what it really is.

In the boot, owners will gain 402 litres of luggage capacity, along with a grocery sun/privacy blind and a power tailgate. However, there is no spare wheel. Instead, owners get a tyre repair kit in its place.

All in all, the Mustang Mach-E Select is easily a much more attractive option than a two-door Mustang when it comes to standard practicality, space and equipment. For a family of four, for instance, this vehicle would be, in my opinion, an ideal choice.

Is the Mustang Mach-E Select a safe car?

The Mustang Mach-E was tested by ANCAP in 2021 where it received a five-star safety rating. The GT flagship remains unrated.

The Mach-E Select and Premium scored particularly well in both adult and child occupant protection, scoring 92 percent and 88 percent respectively. Vulnerable road user received a 69 percent rating, while safety assist rated well with 82 percent.

As standard, the Mach-E is fitted with the following passive and active safety equipment:

• Front, front side, rear side, centre, curtain and driver knee airbags 
• Pre collision assist with AEB and intersection assist
• Lane keeping aid 
• Lane departure warning
• Evasive steer assist
• Post impact braking 
• Blind spot monitoring 
• Cross-traffic alert with braking 
• Adaptive cruise control with lane centring
• Speed sign recognition
• Park assist
• 360-degree camera 
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Tyre pressure monitoring
• Reverse brake assist

Testing the Mustang Mach-E Select day to day, I found the safety systems to be well tuned for the majority of the time. However, I did find that the lane steering assist affected a little too much control (even when I was in the dead centre of the lane while cornering), where the steering felt quite unnatural in its operation. 

The adaptive cruise control was easy to use and worked exactly as I expected. 

I do wish that the Mach-E came standard with a handy head-up display to further complement the digital instrument cluster. 

What are the Mustang Mach-E Select’s ownership costs?

Ownership wise, the Mach-E Select is required to be serviced every 12 months or at 15,000km, whichever occurs first. Five years of servicing for the Mach-E will cost owners $780.

The entire Mach-E range, including Select, are covered by Ford’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. An eight-year/160,000km battery warranty is also included.

When talking about efficiency, we ran our Chasing Cars highway range and recharge test to get a proper indication of how efficient the Mach-E Select was in the real world.

With the results calculated, the Select used 16.9kWh/100km for a real-world highway range of 429 kilometres. That result was 41km less than Ford’s WLTP claim of 470km.

During my urban commuting, I saw an indicated computer fuel efficiency of around 14kWh/100km.

When charging from 50km to 350km of range, we recorded a pretty reasonable charging time of 30 minutes, with the Select requiring 50kWh of electric juice during the charge session.

The peak charging speed we saw during the charge test was 115kW, which was lower than the 150kW DC speed claimed by Ford. AC charging is advertised as 10.5kW.

The honest verdict on the Mustang Mach-E Select

I come back to my questions at the very beginning of all this: is the Mach-E anything like the Mustang coupe we know and love?

Well, no, it’s not, but I don’t think it’s trying to be.

I’ve come away from driving and living with the Mach-E Select feeling quite satisfied. It’s a great first mass-produced electric effort by the Blue Oval, it’s practical, quiet and surprisingly capable on a good stretch of wide open road.

It’s an engaging car, and even when I got out of it after a decent drive, it left me wanting to come back and drive it even more.

The electric midsize SUV is not perfect, though. It’s firm, yet sporty ride can get a bit much at times and the large centre screen is a tad overpopulated. The seats could also be a little bit better bolstered, too, to add to the sporting intent of the EV.

So no, it’s not a Mustang by definition. It won’t snarl at you with its V8 power, or have a low, all-encompassing coupe-like driving position. But I strangely didn’t miss those characteristics in the Select.

I think Ford should just remove the Mustang name and simply call it ‘Mach-E’, because I feel that the electric SUV should live its own life, outside of the shadow of the iconic coupe.

The Mach-E has got its own flavour and charm, and the best part? I think the base Select is the pick of the range. It’s $14,000 less than the Premium, and is still plenty punchy enough for most instances.

Ford has a lot of EV plans up its sleeve, but the Mach-E shows what the brand is capable of. I look forward to seeing what’s next, as well as the trajectory and progression of the Mach-E nameplate in the years to come.

To conclude, I come back to Gale Halderman, the designer of the first-generation Mustang who created a muscle car icon back in 1964.

But even after seven generations, 60 years of production and the invention of the first-ever Mustang-branded SUV, I still don’t think Mr Halderman will ever be rolling in his grave.