Ford Mustang Mach-E | PH Used Buying Guide

• Available for £15,000
• Single or dual electric motor, rear- or all-wheel drive
• GT is supercar-fast, others not so much
• Good family cars though, with a strong reliability record
• Decent handling, especially cars with modded suspension built after mid-2022
• Some high-milers are already out of battery warranty 

The Mustang Mach-E announced at the end of 2019 for European sales beginning in late 2020 was Ford’s first ground-up all-electric car. It was also the first SUV to bear the Mustang name. That was controversial. The Mach-E was about as similar to an original Mustang as a cockerpoo was to an XL bully – and let’s not even get into the Mach 1/Mach-E cultural appropriation. 

Still, despite some marque and model fans railing against Ford’s borrowing of names from the past in order to sprinkle some fairy dust on its new cars, the company itself has not had a problem with it. They certainly went all in on production of the new Mustang. The number of Mach-Es built in Mexico in 2021 was higher than the number of ‘real’ Mustangs built in the US in that year.

Looking beyond whatever sense of outrage may or may not be out there, the reality is that the Mach-E could deliver performance that was superior, and in most cases vastly so, to that of any past Ford icons bar the gen-two Ford GT. In dual-motor all-wheel drive GT spec its 0-62mph time was claimed to be low as 3.7 seconds, which for reference was a tenth quicker than the time put in by the gen-one 2004-06 Ford GT. The Mach-E went at least as far (and as often as not further) on a fill-up than its ICE forebears, with a WLTP battery range of up to 372 miles. It handled a lot more securely than the old-timers too courtesy of a modern chassis tuned specially for Europe’s twistier roads and higher speed limits with an all-wheel drive system applying torque independently to the front and rear wheels. 

There was more. The Mach-E had a big suite of driver-assistance technologies including adaptive cruise control with lane centring and – via the optional subscription-based BlueCruise function – hands-free driving. New buyers were given a year’s free access to the IONITY fast-charging network, and the ones who placed an order for a Mach-E in 2020 or 2021 were given a FordPass app with five years’ free access to one of Europe’s largest charging networks.

Outside of its EVness, the Mach-E also needed to keep up Ford’s reputation for delivering strong chassis dynamics. Did it succeed? We’ll talk about that in the chassis section, but if you were a loyal Ford customer looking for electrified family transport, you were on board with the styling, and you were young enough not to get upset about the concept of a five-seat Mustang SUV, the Mach-E looked like a workable package. Buyers globally seemed to agree, but it was a slow burner in Europe, low takeup in its first full year of availability in that continent only just managing to scrape it into the EV top 20 sales chart. 

At the time of writing in January 2025, the starting price for a new Mustang Mach-E was just over £43,000, which is around £8,000 less than it was in 2022, but used ones are considerably less than that. You can pick up a 2022 example for as little as £15,000. The catch of course is that cheap Mach-Es come with big miles, like 90,000-100,000 or more – and that 100,000-mile mark is when the warranty runs out on the battery pack. Two-thirds of the car’s value gone in less than three years gives you some indication as to the market’s uncertainty about EVs as long-term ownership propositions. Could it be a false fear, though? That’s a thought we’ll explore a bit more at the end. 

Engine: 68kWh or 88kWh batteries (useable), single or dual motors
Transmission: 1-speed, rear-wheel or all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 265/290/346/480
0-62mph (secs): 6.9-3.7
Top speed (mph): 112 or 124 (extended range)
Weight (kg): 2,010
Range: up to 372 (WLTP, extended range battery) (standard range battery 248 in RWD or 273 in AWD)
Real-world power usage: 3 to 3.5 miles per kWh
Wheels (in): 19
Tyres: 225/55
On sale: 2021 – on
Price new (2022): £51,420-£77,380
Used price now: from £15,000

Note for reference: car weight and power data are hard to pin down with absolute certainty. For consistency, we use the same source for all our guides. We hope the data we use is right more often than it’s wrong. Our advice is to treat it as relative rather than definitive.

The Mach-E came with a choice of two centrally-located battery packs, both with liquid heating and cooling. The standard setup was a 288-cell/68kWh (useable) pack. The extended-range option had 376 cells and 88kWh, that again being the useable figure. We think that both of these ratings may have been lifted slightly as part of a 2022 update which we’ll dip into as we go along. Drive was transmitted to the road through either a single motor on the back axle or by two motors front and rear. 

In RWD single-motor spec the power was quoted at 265hp with the standard range battery or 290hp with the extended range one. Torque was 317lb ft and the 0-62mph time was 6.1sec according to Ford’s own testing, which was carried out from a 1ft rolling start, peak torque handily coming in within 0.5sec of the pedal being mashed. In dual-motor, standard-range AWD spec the power was the same as the single-motor car’s at 265hp, but in extended-range spec the output was increased to 346hp. Torque was 428lb ft and the 0-62mph time went down to a claimed 5.1 seconds. First Edition cars came in this specification. 

At the top of the Mach-E performance heap was the dual-motor extended range GT which arrived in 2022 as part of a wider Mach-E revision that included suspension mods which we’ll talk more about in the Chassis section. The GT was rated at 480hp and a hefty 634lb ft, bringing the 0-62mph time down to the aforementioned claim of 3.7 seconds. That’s quick by any standards, but again you do have to bear in mind Ford’s rolling start test procedure. The weakest models in the range didn’t feel especially fast on the road. 

There were three driving modes. The names they chose for these – Untamed, Active, and Whisper – sounded a bit like products on the mens’ fragrance shelf. Throttle and steering responses were different for each mode, as was the lighting. Active was the default setting, Whisper the eco one, and Untamed which didn’t give you any extra power but which did give the throttle the greatest sense of ‘directness’. It also piped the sound of a V8 into the cabin, but you could turn that off. Testers seemed to quite like the smoothness of the power and torque delivery in Whisper mode, although this was the mode with the least regen effect on deceleration. The strongest regen setting brought the car to a complete halt. 

The GT had an extra mode, Untamed Plus, which sounded as if it might bring more performance but what it actually did was to turn off the power-boost function to give the car’s battery more endurance on (for example) a track. That seemed a bit backwards but if you think about it the idea of going to a track is to have fun, and anything that would extend the time you had for that could be seen as a performance enhancement.  

For charging, Ford offered Ford Connected Wallboxes in 7.4kW and 11kW versions. The 11kW one topped up the standard-range battery from 10 to 80 per cent in around six hours and the extended-range one in around seven hours. The same charging exercise with the 7.4kW wallbox took eight and ten hours respectively. Away from home, ten minutes of DC fast charging of an extended range battery at up to 150kW on an IONITY unit added an average of 73 miles to an RWD car or 66 miles to a similarly-batteried AWD car. Both AWD and RWD extended range Es could be charged from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in 45 minutes. Fast charging on the normal range battery was limited to 115kW. 

The warranty for the car was three years/60,000 miles. For the battery, it was eight years or 100,000 miles. Service intervals were stated as every two years or 18,000 miles, although the main Ford US website seems to think that routine maintenance on a Mach-E should be performed every 10,000 miles. 

Whatever, in the UK, how much does a service cost? Well, when you go to Ford’s website they ask themselves that very question, viz: ‘how much does servicing an electric vehicle cost?’. Unfortunately they then proceed to not answer it, preferring to say only that ‘over five years or 60,000 miles the Mach-E could help customers save up to 50 per cent on scheduled servicing, compared to a combustion engine’ (the comparison, according to the footnote, being to a Kuga petrol automatic).

Delving deeper into Ford’s Servicing sub-menu provides no further clue as to how much Mach-E servicing might cost in pound notes, or in fact anything at all about electric vehicle servicing. Google AI suggests it might be between £240 and £300 depending on the type of service (interim or full), location, parts needed etc. Thing is, the only item on Ford’s Mach-E maintenance schedule that isn’t simply an inspection is annual tyre rotation.

Basically it appears that you’re paying let’s say £250 (to be charitable) for them to literally look at your brakes, CV boots, steering, suspension, wheels and cooling system, plus an intriguingly non-specific ‘multi-point inspection’, and to move your tyres around – assuming they do that in the UK. If any parts are required, that’s extra. Seems like a lot of money for a lookover. 

In mid-2022 there was a safety recall on cars built up to the end of May 2022 to address possible overheating of the high-voltage main contactors under hard use. Just over 6,500 cars were affected. A software update for the Powertrain Control Module was the answer. We’re not sure if this is the same recall as one for extended range and GT models to address a potential issue with the battery system that could cause the vehicle to lose power or be unable to start. Some high-voltage battery junction boxes were replaced under warranty.

When driving in very cold conditions some owners have noticed a knocking or clicking sound from the rear which faded away after a while, but we haven’t been able to track down a cause for that. Otherwise we haven’t found anything in the way of common problems for the Mach-E. 

The normal Mach-E’s chassis, a conventional setup of springs, dampers and anti-roll bars, was put together by Ford of America rather than Ford Europe. It wasn’t an unqualified success. Cars built up to the second quarter of 2022 had a spring/damper mismatch that created an unpleasant mix of underdamped pogoing and oversprung firmness, and steering that for a Ford was uncharacteristically dead.

Ford took steps to remedy that with some suspension tweaks that filtered through into the UK market from spring 2022. The GT that was added to the range at this time took things one step further with Magneride adaptive dampers and bigger 385mm Brembo brakes as standard, but if you didn’t have the money for one of those and wanted the best handling balance you were best off going for the basic single-motor RWD car. With the modified suspension even the lower-spec Mach-Es offered a fun drive with good body control and very little understeer. 

Just for fun, put a front three-quarter picture of the Ferrari Purosangue up on your screen next to one of the Mach-E, which was styled by Ford’s design head Jason Castriota. Guess who Castriota worked for before Ford? Ferrari. He did the 599 GTB. 

Be that as it may, the Ford had a longer wheelbase than the Mercedes EQC but it was relatively light for an electric SUV at 2,010kg. It was light inside, too, if you went for the full-length panoramic roof. Sadly it could also be wet inside if you had that. There was a recall at the end of 2021 to correct roof adhesion issues that were causing wind noise and water leaks. That was followed not long after by another one to sort out windscreen adhesion issues.   

There wasn’t as much rear boot space as you got in a VW ID.4 or a Skoda Enyaq – at 402 litres it was actually smaller than the ‘real’ Mustang’s – but that did expand to 1,420 litres with the back seats down (albeit with a significant lip to lift luggage over). You also got a 100-litre plastic-lined front boot with a drain, a la Puma Megabox.

Sometimes the Mach-E 12v battery would die. If it did that with the doors locked, which you know they would be, you wouldn’t be able to access the inside of the Mach-E unless you had some sort of jump pack about your person. 

You didn’t need a keyfob to get into a Mach-E: your phone would do. Once you were in, both space and seat comfort were good. Two bods would be comfortable for quite a while in the back, where they would be enjoying plentiful headroom. 

More than 80 vehicle settings could be customised, including cabin temperature, ambient lighting and the position of the electrically adjustable front seats. While we’re on that, some drivers found that there wasn’t enough tiltability for the bases and that the driving position overall was a little too upright. The seats were more sofa-like than sculptured, which along with the peacefulness of the environment on the move again perhaps reflected US rather than European motoring preferences. Although the door pockets weren’t that large, there was plenty of oddments space under the infotainment screen and a big cubby under the armrest.  

Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto were part of the standard Mach-E offering. Unlike in some other cars, both worked well. Besides connecting buyer’s phones to the car to provide control of its features using voice commands or via a big (15.5in) Tesla-style touchscreen, Ford’s SYNC 4 system learnt from driver behaviour and used cloud-connectivity with other Ford EV customers to come up with more accurate driving range calculations and time-saving recommendations. As far as we’re aware SYNC 4A was the iteration in play in early 2025.

Along with many other manufacturers, Ford has moved down the low button count road, a not altogether popular move when it includes the loss of physical controls for your climate, but the Mach-E’s touch-sensitive buttons worked nicely enough and the controls for the lights, handbrake and drive mode selector were all ‘real’. The driver’s letterbox display didn’t carry a lot of info. 

The cabin wasn’t as Ford-parts binny as you might have feared, and it was less plasticky than some of Europe’s more shameful built-down-to-a-price ‘premium’ offerings, but despite the presence of some woven textures and stitching it still felt a pace or two behind the best cars from both Europe and Asia in terms of its perceived niceness. There were some quite cheesy aspects too, like the Top Gun-ish startup tone and the cringe-inducing inclusion of the phrase ‘Ground Speed’ on the digital display. On the positive side, all Mach-Es had park assist to do your parallel- or perpendicular-parking, a 360-degree rearview camera (which you kind of needed with that body structure), a five-star NCAP crash rating, the adaptive cruise with stop-and-go and active lane keep that we mentioned earlier, blind spot monitor and pre-collision assist.

Not much changed inside as a result of the 2022 updates but Ford did take that opportunity to smooth out the operation of the cruise control. BlueCruise was an £18 a month subscription-based extra which allowed hands-free driving in Blue Zone areas. According to Ford, 95 per cent of Britain’s motorways fell into that category. When you were on one with active cruise engaged the driver’s screen went blue and put up a simple ‘hands-free’ message. All you had to do then was find something for your hands to do and see how long you could dare yourself to ignore that lorry suddenly pulling out in front of you. Incorrect location information was reportedly being sent from the Mach-E’s emergency eCall system at one point, but that fault has affected plenty of other cars. 

So, when is a Mustang not a Mustang? Ford has long maintained that the ‘proper’ V8 Mustang will remain an option in its range, but more recently the phrase ‘for as long as is legally possible’ has started to appear in its statements. By early 2025 the only original gen-7 Mustang you could order new in the UK was a 450hp 5.0-litre V8 at just under £56,000. What we’re saying is that cars like the Mach-E and its variants will be the ones carrying the Mustang banner forward. 

‘Motorway mileage’ has traditionally been used in ads for ICE cars to reassure buyers about high numbers on the odometer. In one way the phrase is appropriate for EVs too as the battery pack of a car that spends a lot of time on motorways should be running at the most efficient temperature for more of the time, which is what you want. 

Where motorway mileage doesn’t really work for EVs is in the one-way degradation of the battery pack. Like most EV batteries, the Mach-E’s was warrantied for eight years or 100,000 miles, with a promise to repair or replace it at no cost within those time and mileage constraints in the event of complete failure or of maximum capacity dropping below 70 per cent. With all but the oldest Mach-E still being under four years old as of early 2025 you’re still well covered on the time front, but things are different in terms of mileage. Many Mach-Es have been put to business use. As mentioned in the overview you can pick up one of those for as little as £15,000, but there’ll be little or no battery warranty left at that sort of price because the mileage will be approaching or over the 100,000 mile mark. 

In early 2025 Google AI was suggesting just under £10,000 for the cost of a new battery pack for this car. It didn’t specify whether that was the 288-cell unit or the 366-cell one: it’s more what you might call a ballpark figure. Still a significant cost then, but one that should fall as the technology moves forward. Even so, used EV buyers will want them to drop a fair bit more yet before they invest in a high-miler.

At some point battery replacement should make financial sense for EVs because you’d expect the rest of the car to be lasting quite a lot longer than eight years or 100,000 miles. Giving it a new battery – effectively a new ‘engine’ for an EV – is more than just a minor refresh. Trouble is, manufacturers might decide to keep replacement battery costs artificially high to stop you going in for this recycling process, which after all would be hurting their sales of new EVs. 

Anyway, enough of that musing, the Mach-E as it stands has a very good reliability record. As of January ’25 the most accessible Mach-E on PH Classifieds was claiming to be a 48,000-mile standard range single motor (265hp) car from 2022 at £18,995, but there were no pics of that so instead here’s the next cheapest, a similar car with 67,000 miles and registered in 2021 at £19,189. £19k-£20k seems to be the average price for 50-60,000 mile single-motor cars. Throw another £3,000 or so into the pot and you’ll be halving the mileage. Go to £25k and you’ll be into standard range cars with under 15,000 miles.

The cheapest extended range 290hp Mach-E we found was this 41k car from 2022 at £21,500. For another £600 you could be in this dual-motor 346hp Mach-E but the odometer of that one has 72,000 miles on it. Again, adding £2,000-£3,000 more to take you up to £24k or so will reduce the mileage on one of those by 20,000. 

480hp GTs are thinner on the ground, representing about one in nine of the Mach-Es on PH Classifieds. As you’d expect, they’re also more expensive. The most affordable one we found was this 2023 example with 28,000 miles at £34,746. This earlier car with fewer than 12,000 miles under its electronic belt was around £1,400 more at £36,170. Late 2024 GTs with under 10,000 miles recorded are nearer to £50k.