2021 Mach-E GT

Test Drive Notes Library

Pros
OK, it’s real fast. A person living in what’s considered “civilization” will be hard pressed to find an opportunity to floor the accelerator on the GT for more than a few seconds. The same person who might be drawn to a V8-powered gasoline Mustang GT — say someone willing to overpay for excessive power — is the person Ford is aiming at with the Mach-E GT. Well, maybe a more practical version of that person, since this Mustang can haul a family and some gear, too. Our test model rang out at $68,500, or about $15,000 more than the regular, all-wheel-drive Mach-E, while adding 130 hp.
Still a Mach-E. Fortunately, all the attributes of the basic Mach-E are present in the GT. It’s still a great looking, practical, 5-door crossover, that’s fun to drive, yet tremendously sensible. A lot of people interested in an electric car will find the Mach-E very appealing. And if you’re someone who wants all that, and some bragging rights, the GT might be for you.
Cornering. Our GT came with a $5,000 GT Performance Edition package, which includes 20 inch summer tires and magnetic ride control. So despite the weight of the GT, the cornering is very good, with good grip and little body lean.
Upgraded interior materials. This being the most expensive Mach-E, Ford has tweaked the GT’s interior, giving it a more upscale look and feel. It’s nicely done. With--praise be--a large volume knob. The huge, vertically oriented center touch screen uses the latest Ford Sync system, which, quickly mastered, is intuitive to use. Wireless CarPlay adds to the user friendliness.
Quiet, if you want it to be. Ford gives you the option of adding fake engine noise, if that’s your thing. It’s not our thing. Fortunately, you can turn it off, and the Mach-E becomes a quiet car. It’s a little noisier than the standard Mach-E, probably due to the low profile tires. But if you’re driving this car every day, you’ll appreciate the quiet.
Decent highway cruiser. On smooth highways, it’s quite comfortable and easy to pilot.
All the safety. All Mach-Es come with the full suite of safety features buyers should expect in 2022, including forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and bicycle detection, lane departure technology, blind spot warning, and rear cross traffic alert. Our GT also came with a $1,900 Co-Pilot360 Active 2.0 package, which adds some early hands-free highway driving features.

Cons
Unnecessary power. We don’t want to be buzzkills…OK, we want to be buzzkills. Do you really need more than 346 hp in your family SUV? That’s what you get in the basic Mach-E AWD. And it’s plenty. The truth is, every electric car accelerates quickly. At some point, it becomes a parlor trick. You use it once to show your friends, and then you just drive the car. There’s nothing slow about the base Mustang Mach-E AWD. Why would you pay an extra $10K-$15K to get a 134 more horsepower you’ll almost never use? Plus, there's a range penalty for the extra power, too.
Feels heavy. We drove the base Mach-E nearly a year ago, so we didn’t get to drive it side by side with the GT. But based on memory, the GT feels heavier to us. It doesn’t feel as light on its feet. So even though it’s the performance version, we didn’t find it as pleasurable to drive day to day, unless you get your pleasure from going very fast for very short periods of time.
Stiff ride. With 20 inch, lower profile tires, the GT has a stiffer ride than in the base Mach-E. It’s particularly noticeable on any kind of imperfect pavement.
Aside from the gloriously huge volume knob, a lot of controls have been moved to the screen menus. So your eyes will be off the road more than they should be when you adjust things like the temperature or the seat heater settings while driving. And you’ll have to dig into the menus for things as simple as popping open the rear hatch. That seems like a step backwards in ergonomics, no?
Gimicky door handles. Or lack of handles. To enter the Mach-E, you have to push a button that pops the door ajar, then you pull on a little sill to pull the door open. That’s a two step process. A door handle is a one step process, so this seems like going from a fork to chopsticks. Not to mention what happens when that sill fills up with ice or snow in the winter.