2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E First Drive: Rally For Off-Road, GT For Speed, Electric For All

Electric vehicles are serious business. Legacy automakers are shifting lineups and spending billions upon billions of dollars to pump out more EV models as the years go on. One such result of this push towards electrification for the masses is the Ford Mustang Mach-E. I went to the Pacific Northwest to the Seattle-Bellevue area in the great state of Washington to see how serious Ford is about the Mach-E line of EVs. As it turns out, the Mach-E is in fact capable of having at least a little bit of fun.

I am very familiar with the Mustang Mach-E. I reviewed one earlier this year and found that while the "vehicle" portion of the car was nothing short of excellent, the "electric" part and all of the infrastructure-based baggage that entails left much to be desired. It was great to drive and a blast to (lightly) thrash around in, if only I could charge it somewhere.

That was a 2023 model and Ford has updated the 2024 Mustang Mach-Es in a few ways, though nothing too drastic. First, the maximum range has been increased across the Mach-E range to a top range of 320 miles for the rear-wheel drive-only Extended Range Mach-E Premium. This is partly due to a new motor that Ford has implemented across the Mach-E lineup. Ford has also boosted the recharging speed at DC charging stations by upwards of 20%. The addition of an NACS adapter for use at the newest Tesla Supercharger stations is a big quality of life improvement.

As for the performance-oriented 2024 Mach-E GT, Ford announced that it would be getting huge Brembo brakes, upgraded seats, and MagneRide magnetic suspension as standard. For aesthetics, the revamped Mach-E GT gets Eruption Green as an extra paint color and the Bronze Appearance Package, which adorns the car in 20-inch wheels and "Sinister Bronze" accents, including a new grille.

Additionally, the Mach-E GT got a new Performance Upgrade that punches up its stats a bit. The all-important 0-60 time has been updated to 3.3-seconds: Ford took great pride in announcing that it's now faster than a Tesla Model Y Performance and the EV version of the all-wheel drive Porsche Macan. On the mechanical end, torque has been increased to a wild 700 pound-feet for Performance Upgraded Mach-E GTs.

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I got the opportunity to drive both the updated Mach-E Premium and Mach-E GT with the Performance Upgrade. Our first stop was a Tesla Supercharger outside of an Ikea furniture store and I'm pleased to announce that the charging adapter was a breeze to use and both the Mach-E and charger didn't pitch any kind of fit. We charged about 10% in our short stay at the charger and headed off. It was about as seamless as you could get. 

I then got behind the wheel of the updated GT and, in layman's terms, it's really fast. The regular Mach-E is jarringly swift for a crossover-shaped vehicle, and the Mach-E GT drives that point home even further. It's a breeze to charge up highway on-ramps at (legal and safe) speeds, and it's endlessly fun to punch the accelerator from a dead stop and feel the Mach-E hoist itself to highway speeds in a shockingly short amount of time. Outside of all the emotional connection to the Mustang name, political messaging about electric vehicles from either side of the aisle, charging infrastructure issues, and the high costs of most EVs, Ford managed to make a really fun car to drive. That should be applauded.

Going with the fun-to-drive theme, the next day we were given the task of discovering the newest addition to the Mach-E family, the Mustang Mach-E Rally. At its core, the Rally-ified Mach-E is essentially a Mach-E GT with the Performance Package, but with a few notable improvements to ensure it has the maximum ability to do its best impression of a Group B rally car from the 1980s. Although you will likely sit in traffic in the Mach-E Rally, it's meant to feel like you're driving a Ford Escort on a rally course in Scandinavia. Given the greenery and scenery of the Pacific Northwest, Ford certainly got the locale correct.

The Mach-E Rally gets a huge wing, a graphics package that's supposed to remind everyone of your vehicle's ability to go sideways, fog lights embedded into the grille, 19-inch white rally-inspired wheels, aluminum skidplates underneath, and the thoughtful addition of clear paint protection on the lower half of the body panels. A one-inch lift kit rounds out the Mach-E Rally's credentials. Range is a reduced 265 miles: All that rallying must take a toll on the busy electrons.

Our testing of the Mach-E was to take place at DirtFish. To the uninitiated, DirtFish is a rally-driving school located on the grounds of an old mill. It's around 300 acres of rally-driving heaven tucked away in Snoqualmie, Washington (also the place where many shots of the show "Twin Peaks" were filmed). The Cascade Mountains punctuate the scenery around the driving school, making you feel like you accidentally stepped into Skyrim, Westeros, Middle-Earth, or Norway. Take your pick.

Before I took my lessons in the art of Rally, I took the Mach-E Rally out on the town, visiting a few shops in the area and doing a little sight-seeing. I had never seen an elk in person, so coming across a heard of the super-deer grazing in a field was a treat, as was seeing Mount Si looming in the fog. Did I mention how green everything was?

It should be noted that the Mach-E Rally's color of "Grabber Yellow" did a terrible job of blending into the environment, and it could likely be seen from space as I puttered around the route Ford set for us. If Grabber Yellow were a piece of music, it would be the subtly named "Painkiller" by Judas Priest.

Despite its incredibly ostentatious appearance, however, the Rally is actually a competent city and street driver. It was only dramatic when it wanted to be, and was otherwise fairly sedate on the straights and curves. It was powerful and wild when you desired that, but surprisingly comfortable and easy to live with when you weren't in a fun mood. The MagneRide suspension was pulling a lot of weight in the comfort department. The goofy tires and aerodynamic "upgrades" don't interfere with the characteristically quiet interior of this EV. It's downright pleasant to be in.

After arriving back at DirtFish, I was fitted with a helmet and a head and neck restraint or HANS device, and ferried out to the track. It was at the course we were briefed on the Mach-E Rally's exclusive "Rally Sport Mode." This mode augments the MagneRide suspension to provide better response to "imperfections" in the rallying surface (i.e. gravel, uneven terrain, a lot of mud). The steering is retooled in this mode to ensure that it's only as dynamic as you want it to be. 

That's paired with adjustments made to the throttle, traction control, and anti-lock braking systems to make sure the car gets sideways and fun, but only when you want it to. It should also be noted that it was raining nearly my entire trip, so the track was adequately muddy for the trip to rally school.

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Prior to this, my only experience rally driving was thrashing my 2008 Honda Civic up and down the dirt road my parents lived on and pulling the handbrake to turn sideways, and that was a number of years ago. I'm hardly a professional.

It was finally rally driving time. I got into the seat of a Mach-E Rally with one of DirtFish's instructors riding shotgun. Through the years of experience of DirtFish's instructor, their expert tips, and the competency of the Mach-E Rally Sport Mode (mostly the former), the car felt extremely controllable through all the twists, turns, and inclement weather.

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I'm a naturally pretty calm and boring driver, so intentionally throwing the car into corners on a muddy gravel and muddy track at high speed took getting used to. Despite my trepidation, I can attest that the car achieved sufficient sideways placement through a few of the corners during my time as a pupil. 

Ford

I learned from the instructor that the Mach-E's steering and throttle dance together where instead of frantically sawing at the wheel to get back on track, hitting the accelerator while in the midst of the turn helps straighten out the car and get it back on track. It required more of a calm steady movement of the wheel than anything even approaching a panic. The car itself does a lot of the work. The 480 horsepower and 700 foot-pounds of torque can work for you and not against you.

I completed three laps of the rally course and watched other journalists run the gamut of figuring out the Mach-E's rally nuances and/or take out a number of road cones in the process. I am proud to say that I only hit a single cone. It looked at me funny.

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After my brief career as a rally driver, Ford treated us to thrill rides in the passenger seat. Drift racing professional Collete Davis commanded the wheel of the Mach-E Rally while she did her best efforts to deplete the EV's battery in the least efficient way possible, that is thrashing it to within an inch of its life going every which way around the race course. 

As a passenger, the helmet and HANS device justified their existence and I got a feel for what the Mach-E Rally was actually capable of. While I drove the EV like I was on my way to Bingo Night at the VFW, Colette Davis drove it like she was being chased by an attack helicopter with a deep-seated hatred of mud and electric vehicles. 

Now there's the issue of price. The Mach-E isn't particularly a price-conscious vehicle. No, it's not as pain-inducing as something like a GMC Hummer or anything from Lucid, but it isn't budget conscious. The bone stock standard rear-wheel drive 2024 Mach-E starts at $39,995, the Premium starts at $43,995, and goes up to $49,995 for an extended range battery and all wheel drive. The Mustang Mach-E Premium that I reviewed was optioned out to nearly $70,000. 

As for the 2024 Mustang Mach-E GT, that starts at $53,995, while the Performance Upgrade adds $995 as a standalone option. The Bronze Appearance Package tacks on $1,995. Lastly, the Mach-E Rally — which comes with the extended range battery and all-wheel drive — starts at $59,995.

That's not so much a price spread as it is a personality one. Ford's Mustang Mach-E is a microcosm of a lineup within one vehicle, and I got to see it do its best impression of a luxury crossover with the Mach-E Premium, grow a mullet and listen to Metallica with the Mach-E GT, and moonlight as a rally driver with the Mach-E Rally. It's an impressive almost-chameleon of a vehicle, and Ford's 2024 updates only exaggerate that.