18,000 Miles in the Ford Mustang Mach-E | What It’s Like to Live With | Long-Term Test Wrap-Up

SPEAKER 1: When this debuted, the Internet was crazy, very crazy. SPEAKER 2: It's not a Mustang, bro. This is a Mustang. This is a Mustang right here. SPEAKER 1: Calm, calm. Alright. Everything will be fine. So, that whole existential crisis and, if you ask me, Ford's genius marketing trick, took away the real headline from this car. This is a solid electric SUV that is very quiet and good at almost everything. So we purchased this specific Mustang Mach-E in 2022 to add to our

long

-

term

Edmunds

test

fleet. And now, after nearly two years of owning the Mach-E, we're ready to part ways with it.

So here's the good, the bad, and the slightly inconvenient? Our

long

-

term

test

fleet is getting exciting with the recent addition of a Fisker Ocean and a Chevy Blazer EV with a few more surprises to come. So if you're interested in seeing

what

's going well and

what

's not, be sure to like and subscribe. That's why each of our long-term test cars is driven by real people in the real world. And the goal is to give you different opinions and thoughts, overall the best impression of what it's like to

live

as a homeowner. So let's start with an easy one.

What do you like most about the Mach-E? REESE COUNTS: Honestly, my favorite thing about the Mach-E is how easy it is to drive. JONATHAN ELFALAN: My favorite thing about the Mach-E has to be the interior. ALLISTAIR WEAVER: It's spacious. It is comfortable. It's well thought out. DAVID LUCIO: What I liked the most was how smooth and quiet the cabin was. CLINT SIMONE: Oh, I love the Mach-E. SPEAKER 3: What are you doing? SPEAKER 1: That was embarrassing. Obviously, we have a lot of good things to say about this SUV. But that being said, we've had it for almost two years now.

So what didn't we like so much? JONATHAN ELFALAN: After living with it and driving with it, I actually wasn't a fan of the suspension. It has a bounce, especially for rear passengers. It can be somewhat uncomfortable. REESE COUNTS: As much as I like the look of them, the door handles are stupid. I really hate those things. It's always annoying to use. They are strange... they are poorly placed. ALLISTAIR WEAVER: I found the seats a little flat. For a car with sporting aspirations, I know they spend a lot of time talking about this type of memory foam.

It's like a mattress at home, but a mattress at home doesn't bend at the corners. And also the interior elements, quality and choice of materials could have been better. DAVID LUCIO: What I liked least was the adaptive cruise control. It wasn't that intuitive. And also, it just didn't focus on the lane like I liked. It always felt like he was leaning to one side or the other. So I didn't feel comfortable letting go of the wheel completely because I didn't trust the way the system was driving. I felt much more comfortable doing it myself. SPEAKER 1: As you can see, these are pretty minor things.

Now, one area where this car excelled was in our Edmunds EV range test. The EPA rates the single-engine Mach-E at 300

miles

, but we got 341. That's good. REESE COUNTS: I took it on a road trip to Arizona last week and it was fantastic. The road was quiet and comfortable. I was a little unsure about having an EV on a road trip. But I can't really make any complaints. I had to stop...my two stops lasted about 15 minutes and 20 minutes each. Really, it's not much different than filling up a tank of gas and going to the bathroom. ALLISTAIR WEAVER: We've consistently seen that if you like old world manufacturers, they tend to beat their EPA numbers.

And like some of the startups, particularly Tesla, it depends on how much you're going to use the car over long distances. But the Mach-E can certainly hold its own in terms of range. JONATHAN ELFALAN: I love the approach Ford is taking, which is to under-promise and over-de

live

r. So it was a surprise to us that it went much further. But that gives me more confidence in their product. SPEAKER 1: They announced that they will send free adapters to everyone who owns one so they can be used on the supercharger network. What are your general comments on what superfeeding will look like next year?

ALLISTAIR WEAVER: Well, if you're a Ford owner, it's great news because the infrastructure beyond Tesla is pretty poor right now. And that's really holding back the EV market. So being able to use the best Supercharger network in the country is great news for Ford drivers, but terrible news for Tesla drivers. So it will be very interesting to see how this develops and how big the queues are at the superchargers, particularly where I live. It could be a big problem. SPEAKER 1: Things are about to get very spicy at Tesla Superchargers. So it's no secret that some of the electric vehicles we've purchased haven't exactly been super reliable.

But since we bought this Mach-E, we've put almost 18,000

miles

on it. And in the process, it has been the model of reliability. On our long-running blog on the website, we typically have a section reserved for maintenance and reliability. But for the Mach-E we don't even have one because we haven't taken it to the dealership even once for repairs. JONATHAN ELFALAN: Reliability-wise, the Mach-E has been impeccable. REESE COUNTS: I've never had any problems with the Mach-E, whether it's infotainment or driving. It never fails to unlock. For me it has never failed. Works. ALLISTAIR WEAVER: As Ford's first proper electric vehicle, it's pretty impressive that it's remained so problem-free.

SPEAKER 1: It's become a pretty unfortunate trend that electric vehicles don't tend to hold their value very well. And we're about to put this to the test. We bought this car for $61,000, including an $8,000 markup, which was appropriate at the time we bought it. And we are selling it for $28,000. So that trend continues. Hard. JONATHAN ELFALAN: I think people are still recognizing that it's a solid option as far as EVs/electric SUVs go. It's simply because it doesn't have that new factor and it's not pushing the boundaries in terms of scope or technology. It simply exists relatively free of problems.

People may not talk about it as much, but they still buy them. SPEAKER 1: With some really decent used options on the market now, including this one, we hope Ford has a trick or two up its sleeve for the updated Mach-E when it goes on sale next year. Otherwise, this electric SUV, which is one of the first to make a splash in the industry, will gradually become irrelevant. That being said, if you're thinking about buying one... DAVID LUCIO: I would say that if you're interested in an electric vehicle, this is not a bad choice. But it wouldn't be my first choice.

I think there have been more EVs coming out since this one was initially released, which might be better, a little easier to use and with better range. And it doesn't necessarily have anything in terms of performance or styling that makes it much better than any other electric vehicle on the market. JONATHAN ELFALAN: I think the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Kia EV6 are really solid buys in that segment as well. And I personally find them a little more pleasant to drive, just more comfortable to live with. Therefore, I would recommend that you check them out before making the final decision to purchase a Mach-E.

REESE COUNTS: Go for the long range model. The all-wheel drive ones are certainly fast, but you'll get more range. And honestly, they're less expensive. I feel like that's the case with most EVs, but especially the Mach-E. In our experience, the reach of this thing has been truly spectacular. So take advantage of that. SPEAKER 1: As always, thanks for watching. And if you're interested in learning more about our long-term fleet, visit edmunds.com. Now, let's fight in the comments, kids.